Baku, Azerbaijan, July 7
Trend:
The invitation of Bako Sahakyan to London has caused protests by British politicians.
Invitation of the "president" of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan to speak at the event, which will be held at Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, is incompatible with logic, Lord Kilclooney said at the request of The European Azerbaijan Society (TEAS).
Members of the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh, about one million of which have become refugees as a result of the aggressive policy of Armenia, should have been invited to this the event, he said.
"The position of these people is more important than those who drove them away from their homes," the lord said. "Sahakyan is unrecognized by the international community, by inviting him like this Chatham House damages its own standing and gives him a level of legitimacy he does not deserve. There are already four UN Security Council Resolutions with regard to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and it is time they are implemented."
Stephen Hepburn, MP of the UK, also supported Kilclooney's statement, noting that there is no way that Bako Sahakyan, so-called 'president' of Nagorno-Karabakh, should have been invited by Chatham House to speak.
"His regime is not recognized by any country in the world and continues to defy four UN Security Council Resolutions asking that Armenia end its occupation of Azerbaijani territories," he said. "He is not welcome in the UK and I would ask that Chatham House reconsider his invitation to speak there."
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
Edited by CN