It is time to support progress Azerbaijan, Armenia are making towards peace, says Ambassador

The Guardian published on Tuesday a letter by the Azerbaijani Ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Elin Suleymanov in response to the biased article by journalist Patrick Wintour headlined “Armenia turns towards West in search of allies amid Azerbaijan tensions”.

“Patrick Wintour (Armenia turns towards west in search of allies amid Azerbaijan tensions, 30 April) offers an oddly dark view from his visit to Armenia, just as Azerbaijan and Armenia, for the first time since their independence, have reached a breakthrough agreement to begin delimiting the border between two countries – a move widely praised by the international community and advocated for by Armenia’s prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan,” Ambassador Elin Suleymanov said in his letter.

“Moreover, he fails to mention that the main reason for hostilities and instability over the years was the 30-year illegal occupation of the internationally recognised Azerbaijani lands by Armenia. So much so, that Mr Wintour described the return of four Azerbaijani villages previously occupied by Armenia and clearly located in Azerbaijan, as acknowledged by all existing maps and even Armenian officials, as “ceded” to Azerbaijan,” he noted.

“Mr Wintour is right, however, about Armenia’s history of perpetual and futile search for allies outside the region, while a lasting peace requires normalisation with immediate neighbours.

Perhaps, it is time to abandon narratives of doom and gloom, and support the remarkable progress that Azerbaijan and Armenia are making towards peace,” Elin Suleymanov emphasized.