'Non Grata' for Baku: 509 foreigners visit occupied territories

/By AzerNews/

By Sara Rajabova

The names of 509 individuals from 50 countries who had visited Azerbaijan’s territories occupied by Armenia, without Baku’s permission are included in the Foreign Ministry’s “black list”.

The list of persona non grata banned from visiting Azerbaijan includes MPs, businessmen, journalists, entertainers, and others, who violated Azerbaijan’s borders and showed disrespect to the sovereignty and territorial unity of the country, DailyKarabakh website reported.

Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions of Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly one million were displaced as a result of the war. Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions are temporarily out of the control of Azerbaijan as a result of Armenia’s aggression.

Over 10 people appealed for excluding their names from the list of persona non grata in 2015. The ministry gave a positive response to all of these applications, according to the report. Meanwhile, over 10 people have visited the occupied territories with the permission of the Ministry.

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries, tasked to mediate for a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and European countries top Baku’s “black list”.

The Minsk Group co-chair, Russia, tops the list with 133 people, followed by the other co-chair, the United States. Germany completes the trio with 38 people. Thirty-six people from Italy and 30 people from the other Minsk group co-chair country, France, illegally visited Azerbaijan’s occupied lands. Next on the “black list” is Great Britain with 19 people, and Switzerland with10.

Moreover, 11 citizens of Georgia, two from Turkey and three from Iran have visited Azerbaijan’s occupied lands without Baku’s permission.

Unauthorized visits to Nagorno-Karabakh and other occupied regions of Azerbaijan are considered illegal and individuals who pay such visits are included in the ministry’s “black list”.

Large-scale hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire in 1994, but Armenia continued the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal. Peace talks mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. have produced no results so far.