BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24
Trend:
The US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Earle Litzenberger was summoned to the Foreign Ministry, where he met with Deputy FM Khalaf Khalafov, Trend reports on July 24 referring to the ministry.
At the meeting, Khalafov informed the ambassador about the provocation made by Armenian armed forces on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border.
He stressed that in order to conceal the occupation policy of the militaristic Armenian authorities, after the Azerbaijani army stopped the provocation made by the Armenian military servicemen on the border, Armenians began to resort to provocations and attacks on diplomatic missions of Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis in the cities of various countries of the world, mainly in those where many Armenians live.
The deputy FM noted that several such provocations were carried out in the US.
“On July 21, unidentified persons attached a banner with an anti-Azerbaijani content to the gate of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Washington, which was circulated in the Armenian online and print media,” he said.
Khalafov also emphasized that another provocation and attack of Armenians took place in Los Angeles, where Armenian radical groups, having surrounded the building of the Consulate General of Azerbaijan, held an aggressive protest action accompanied by provocative slogans against Azerbaijan. During the action Armenian demonstrators attacked members of the Azerbaijani community, who were conducting a peaceful rally in front of the Consulate General, and who were much less numerous, as a result of which seven Azerbaijanis, including one woman, received bodily injuries of varying severity.
“It’s disappointing that the US police failed to stop a massive attack by aggressive Armenian radicals on representatives of the Azerbaijani community, who gathered for a peaceful rally in front of the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in the US,” he noted.
“The attack by Armenian extremist groups on peaceful Azerbaijanis and inflicting bodily harm on them because of their ethnicity before the eyes of the police officers undermines the authority of the US,” added the deputy FM.
Khalafov also added that the Azerbaijani side expresses a strong protest and condemns those who have not fulfilled their legal obligations, and also demands that the US government bring the Armenian radicals who committed these crimes to justice, and calls for a legal assessment of these provocative actions.
He pointed out the importance of investigating the events accompanied by the infringement of the inviolability and safety of the work of the embassy and the consulate general, and of giving a legal assessment of the actions of those who made the provocation.
Litzenberger said he was informed about these issues and expressed his regret for the incident.
Speaking about the provocation in Los Angeles, the ambassador stressed that there is irrefutable evidence that the provocation in Los Angeles was carried out by aggressive Armenian demonstrators, and the attack of the Armenians on the Azerbaijanis, who gathered for a peaceful rally, whose number was much less than the Armenians is unjustifiable.
The ambassador stressed that this is unacceptable and should not happen in the US.
He also noted that the local law enforcement authorities in Los Angeles apologized for the Armenian provocation, as well as for failure to prevent it. In this regard, an investigation will be carried out and appropriate measures taken.
In conclusion, Litzenberger emphasized that he would raise the issues discussed at this meeting before Washington officials, including the issue of extra measures to provide the security of Azerbaijan’s diplomatic missions in the US.