Stepanakert: Journalists of the New York Times visited Karabakh only after getting an official permission

Journalists of the New York Times visited Karabakh only after getting an official permission of Stepanakert, press-secretary of the NKR president, David Babayan, told Arminfo correspondent. 

APA news agency has disseminated the information saying that Azerbaijani MFA said that the  New York Times representatives visited Karabakh in compliance with Azerbaijan's laws.  They were provided with the appropriate press accreditation cards issued by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. Complying with the laws of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the representatives of the New York Times with the aim of making reportage on Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict have paid a visit to the occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan by Armenia.                         

"The New York Times has informed the Republic of Azerbaijan in advance about the visit intention and its representatives have obtained visas for entering into the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan and they were provided with the appropriate press accreditation cards issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan", - Azerbaijani MFA reported.

Actually, as Babayan said, a year ago the New York Times applied to the official Stepanakert with a relevant request, and the latter allowed journalists to arrive in the NKR. At the same time, the New York Times sent a letter to Azerbaijani MFA with a same request. After  that, representatives of the NKR abandoned the journalists's visit making them understand that by applying to Baku with such a request they violated the NKR legislation that regulates the process of access the territory of the republic. "A year has passed and representatives of the New York Times have again applied to Stepanakert, and this time without applying to Baku. And the problem has been settled. In this context, the publications in Azerbaijani mass media do not meet reality and are false", - press-secretary of the NKR president said.