BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 2
By Elchin Mehdiyev – Trend:
Head of the Azerbaijani community of the Nagorno Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, MP Tural Ganjaliyev, has criticized the "congratulatory letter" sent by Canadian MP Rachael Harder to the representative of the illegal regime created by Armenia in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, Trend reports.
Tural Ganjaliyev has spoken on the issue at extraordinary session of the Azerbaijani Parliament on June 2. Ganjaliyev stressed that the Letter of Protest has been sent to the MPs of the Canadian Parliament.
“The assistant to Rachel Harder is a Canadian citizen of Armenian descent. It’s very likely that this assistant provided Rachel Harder with false information. It would be good if after receiving this information the MP would clarify it and take a step after an objective study of the issue,” Ganjaliyev added.
“Canada recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and attaches great importance to high democratic principles and the rule of law. Therefore, such a step of the Canadian parliamentarian arouses feeling of regret,” the head of the community said.
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, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.