Epress.am News from Armenia
Recently, Azerbaijan intensified its attempts to cast doubt on the expediency of visiting the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR) by foreign citizens, reads a statement issued by the NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“The NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs states another destructive initiative of official Baku. The Azerbaijani leadership’s attempts to interfere with the processes concerning the interests of neighboring Nagorno Karabakh Republic are groundless and must be considered as another manifestation of hostility towards our country,” reads the statement.
The NKR MFA notes how it registers an average of a15% annual increase of the number of tourists visiting the de facto republic, “which testifies to the sincere and increasing interest of the international community towards the Karabakh phenomenon.”
“Unfortunately, any testimony for the consolidation of the NKR statehood causes inadequate reaction by Baku, as a result of which the Azerbaijani authorities often resort to a state blackmail or other typical actions contradicting the modern system of international legal and moral standards,” reads the statement.
The NKR MFA concludes by stating that the Azerbaijan leadership should refrain from engaging in destructive actions and direct its political potential to mutually acceptable negotiations on achieving peace and stability in the South Caucasus, taking into consideration existing realities.
The disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan after a bloody war in the 1990s and is populated mainly by ethnic Armenians. Today it exists as a de-facto independent state under an uneasy ceasefire, and OSCE-brokered efforts to resolve its status have so far been unsuccessful.