By Trend

Following the logic of the comment by the Russian Foreign Ministry, Bako Sahakyan came for rest to Lake Baikal, and not to Moscow, where he held meetings as a so-called head of an illegal regime created in the Azerbaijani territories, occupied as a result of the use of force and ethnic cleansing, Leyla Abdullayeva, acting spokeswoman of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, told Trend Nov. 30.

Abdullayeva said that the comment by the Russian Foreign Ministry says that this trip “doesn’t contradict Russian legislation, the existing international agreements and Russia’s mediation mission in the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”

“Once again, I would like to remind that Article 5 of the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Security between Azerbaijan and Russia dated 1997 clearly reads: “The parties undertake not to support separatist movements, and also prohibit and suppress activity of individuals aimed against the state sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the other party”,” she said.

“In this regard, it would be appropriate to point out paragraph 4 of Article 15 of Russia’s Constitution: “Generally accepted principles and norms of international law and international treaties of the Russian Federation are an integral part of its legal system. If an international treaty of the Russian Federation establishes other rules than those provided by law, the rules of the international treaty apply”,” she noted.

As for Russia’s mediation mission, Abdullayeva added that the document defining the mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group’s co-chairs clearly reads: “The co-chairs will be guided by the principles and norms of the OSCE, the UN Charter, the decisions of the OSCE forums, including the decision of the Council of Ministers dated March 24, 1992, and in particular the decision of the Budapest Summit, as well as the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.”

“This also raises the question - if this is really a “private” trip of a person from the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Russian Federation (in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions No. 822, 853, 874 and 884, the Russian Federation recognizes the Nagorno-Karabakh region as Azerbaijan’s territory), were the relevant requirements applied to this person when crossing the state border of Russia, primarily those which require a valid document issued in accordance with the laws of the country of origin - Azerbaijan?” she asked.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.