Tuesday, July 13 2021 20:36

ArmInfo. The heads of the relevant diplomatic missions were invited to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia with regard to the participation of the  diplomatic representatives of some countries in the visit organized  by the Azerbaijani authorities to the occupied territories of  Nagorno-Karabakh on July 9-10.

As the press service of Armenia's  Foreign Ministry informs, the ambassadors have been handed over note  verbal addressed to the respective governments, wherein it was  particularly stated that the Republic of Armenia considers utterly  unacceptable the visit of diplomatic representatives accredited in  Azerbaijan to the occupied territories of Artsakh, including Hadrut  and a historical center of Artsakh - Shushi: regions which were  ethnically cleansed and their population was a subject of war crimes  and other mass atrocities committed by Azerbaijani armed forces  during the recent aggression. It was emphasized that by arranging  such events the Azerbaijani authorities are trying to legitimize the  aggression against the people of Artsakh and to strengthen their own  claims of having resolved the conflict by force.

During all the meetings, it has been underlined that the involvement  of diplomatic representatives in such visits contradicts the spirit  of cooperation existing between the Republic of Armenia and those  countries, as well as to the position of the OSCE Minsk Group  Co-Chairmanship. In this regard, Armenia strongly calls for  refraining from any actions that may justify the use of force and  thereby undermine regional peace and security.

The use of force and mass atrocities cannot settle the  Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the resolution of the conflict can be  achieved only through negotiations under the auspices of the only  internationally mandated format- the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has brought the above-mentioned  position to the attention of the capitals of the respective  countries, which hold non-resident diplomatic missions to Armenia.

It should be reminded that on July 9-10 the ambassadors of 46 states,  including those from friendly countries for Armenia, visited the  Armenian city of Shushi occupied by Azerbaijan. Thus, the occupied  Shushi was visited by the ambassadors of Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria,  Brazil, China, Afghanistan, Algeria, Palestine, Georgia, Croatia,  Jordan, Israel, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Colombia, Korea, Qatar,  Latvia, Hungary, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Pakistan,  Poland, Serbia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, Japan,  Greece, charge d'affaires of Belgium, UAE, Chile, Estonia, Iraq,  Iran, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Libya, Romania, Slovakia, Sudan and  Venezuela. The trip was also attended by representatives of the World  Health Organization and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.  Only  the ambassadors of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries - Russia,  the USA and France - refused to participate in the visit.  Recall  that the Armenian Shushi came under the control of Azerbaijan after  the signing of a trilateral ceasefire statement on November 9, 2020.  Today, Azerbaijan, by its actions, is trying to completely erase the  trace of the Armenian presence in this ancient Armenian city. The  history of not only historical buildings but also of religious  centers is distorted.