HistoryofTruth.com - Armenian Allegations

The first vice speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament has urged the Turkish journalists to respect Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

“We worry about the Turkish journalists’ visit to Nagorno-Karabakh through crossing the territory of other country,” First Vice-Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament, Ziyafat Asgarov told journalists on Sept. 26.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group — Russia, France, and the U.S. — are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Asgarov said the Azerbaijan-Turkey relations cannot be made the same with the other relations. “Turkey has recognized the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and always supported us, as well as recognized the Nagorno-Karabakh and its surrounding regions are the Azerbaijani territories. We ask to prevent such cases in the future,” the vice-speaker added.

He said if the Turkish journalists want to visit the Nagorno-Karabakh, they can do it via Azerbaijan. “We would like the Turkish journalists to respect territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan,” Asgarov stressed.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry sent a note to the Turkish Embassy in Baku on Sept. 25.

The note stated that a while ago, journalists of the Turkish NTV TV channel, which were issued accreditation in the so-called “Foreign Ministry of the Nagorno-Karabakh,” visited the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh. The fact disappointed Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry categorically opposed to such visits to its occupied territory and requests the Turkish Foreign Ministry to investigate this fact and take measures, Foreign Ministry reported.