The visits of EU representatives to the occupied Nagorno Karabakh region are possible only in the case they will serve reintegration of Nagorno Karabakh within Azerbaijan.
The statement came from Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Araz Azimov on the sidelines of the fifth session of the GUAM Parliamentary Assembly, commenting on the issue related to the intention of the EU representative Philip Lefort to visit the Nagorno Karabakh region of Azerbaijan under Armenian occupation.
"Nagorno Karabakh is under occupation and in order to get to this point it is anyway necessary to get the permission of the Azerbaijani government. Second, we keep serious control over the visits to this region by the foreign citizens", he said.
According to the deputy minister, the Azerbaijani side does not hamper the visits to Nagorno Karabakh of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs that ‘deal directly with the resolution of the conflict, because their activity is to be in the region periodically and familiarize with the situation on the spot’.
"As for the intention of the representatives of different political structures to pay a visit to the region, with respect to their political interests, in general, we do not agree because there are no grounds for this.
As to the willingness of the European Union's representative to visit this point, I can say that, first, we have to think about the purpose of the visit, and, in general, as you know, the European Union is not involved in the conflict ", Azimov said.
According to the Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, the European Union might be attracted to the settlement of some issues related to the resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno Karabakh.
"However, it is necessary to answer a specific question about what constitutes the political position of the EU, and whether the desire is based on an intention to support the position of Azerbaijan, or this initiative pursues different goals," - he said, stressing the need to clarify these issues.
"If Mr. Lefort is thinking of visiting Nagorno Karabakh, for which purpose does he want to do so? In this case, a project or an initiative proposed by him or the EU can be taken only in the event if such a project or initiative will contribute to the reintegration of the Nagorno-Karabakh region within Azerbaijan ", Azimov said.
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