TODAY.AZ / Politics

Chatham House rules out recognition of separatist NKR regime

06 July 2015 [14:40] - TODAY.AZ

/By AzerNews/

By Sara Rajabova

The United Kingdom’s Royal Institute of International Affairs Chatham House has rejected the recognition of the separatist regime in Azerbaijan’s occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Responding to Azerbaijan’s embassy to the United Kingdom, the think tank has said the participation of the head of the separatist regime at a Chatham House event by no means implies the recognition of this regime, according to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

In a letter to the embassy the Institute has mentioned that this meeting does not mean approval or recognition of separatist Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Institute said it understood Azerbaijan`s concern over Saakyan`s visit, and respects Azerbaijan`s sovereignty and independence.

Chatham House will hold discussions on the situation concerning Nagorno-Karabakh, regional security, and relations between different regional actors in London on July 8

The embassy earlier had sent a letter of protest to Chatham House over the planned speech of Bako Saakyan, the head of the separatist regime in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Institute noted that the meeting is not a public event and would not be attended by media representatives, and that it would be organized under the rules of the institute, bringing together a limited number of experts. Furthermore, the event would not serve to promote separatism and the announcement on the website of Chatham House has been removed.

Earlier, Azerbaijan expressed protest to the UK over the possible visit of the head of the separatist regime of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has requested to meet the UK ambassador to Azerbaijan, Irfan Siddiq, regarding this issue.

Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov said that this situation contradicts the spirit of friendly and strategic relations between Azerbaijan and the UK and is regarded as a step taken against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

Siddiq stressed the UK doesn’t recognize the regime in Nagorno-Karabakh and has no relations with it.

For over two decades, Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in a conflict that emerged over Armenia's territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions.

Following the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the separatist regime was established in Azerbaijan's occupied Nagorno-Karabakh regime.

A fragile ceasefire has been in place since 1994, but long-standing efforts by U.S., Russian and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.

Armenia has not yet implemented any of the four U.N. Security Council resolutions urging a pullout from its neighboring country's territories.

URL: http://www.today.az/news/politics/142004.html

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