Turkey urges citizens not to visit occupied Azerbaijani territories

By Azernews

By Rashid Shirinov

Turkey urges its citizens to refrain from traveling to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, Turkish Foreign Ministry reported on October 4.

The message noted that Turkey, as before, demonstrates solidarity with Azerbaijan in order to end the occupation of Azerbaijani territories.

Being without documents and not getting any consent from relevant executive authorities, four Turks Ufuk Uras, Ali Bayramoglu, Said Cekinoglu and Erol Katircioglu illegally crossed the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan on September 22. The Grave Crimes Investigation Department of Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor General's Office filed a criminal case under Criminal Code’s Article 318.2 (illegally crossing Azerbaijan’s state borders) against them.

The four Turkish citizens deliberately traveled from territory of Armenia and illegally arrived in occupied Khankendi and other settlements of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. They have been declared in the international wanted list. Azerbaijan also sent an appeal to the Turkish law enforcement agencies in order to detain the four citizens.

Earlier, Turkish Foreign Ministry said that the illegal visit of the country's citizens to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan does not reflect the official policy of Ankara, and Turkey will continue to support Azerbaijan's fair position on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Unauthorized visits to Nagorno-Karabakh and other regions of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia are considered illegal, and any individuals paying such visits are included in the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry's ‘black list.’ The Ministry and diplomatic missions pay special attention to the illegal activity in the occupied areas of the country.