Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr. К.Ramazanova / Khazar Ibrahim, the Press-Secretary of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, stated that the Armenian attempt to promote 'development' in the Azerbaijani occupied territories is a cheap publicity stunt, commenting on the information about recent visits of American, Canadian, French, Austrian, German, and Russian citizens to Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Armenian sources reported that about 2,000 foreign citizens visited the conflicted area between January and July 2007. This figure is up 60% more than the same period in 2006.
"The visit of foreign citizens to Nagorno-Karabakh is being implemented through the support of the Armenian Diaspora. They cannot demonstrate development in the Azerbaijani occupied territories," the Press-Secretary of the Ministry stated.
The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began in 1988 due to Armenian claims to Azerbaijani territories. Since 1992, Armenia has occupied 20% of Azerbaijani land including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding Districts. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which time the active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group ( Russia, France, and USA) are currently holding peaceful negotiations.