Russia�s Foreign Ministry is formally right regarding B. Sahakyan�s visit to Russia, T. Zulfugarov

Baku/30.11.18 / Turan: The former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, Tofiq Zulfugarov, called correct and relevant to legal norms the statement of the spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, M. Zakharova, made on 30.11.2018 in response to the protest by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry against the visit of Bako Sahakyan, the head of the self-proclaimed Nagorno Karabakh Republic to Russia.

Zakharova voiced the position of the Russian Foreign Ministry, which believes that it did not violate international law, and the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry claims are unfounded. Notes of protest were sent from the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan to colleagues in France and the USA, which Sahakian also visited.

"Mrs. Zakharova is formally right, because Armenian citizen, Bako Sahakyan, is not a person who violated the laws of the Republic of Azerbaijan (no lawsuit has been initiated against him), despite the fact that he carries out activities against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country. How can we to make claims to France, the United States, and the Russian Federation, if we ourselves consider him to be innocent, despite the "activity" of "Sahakyan" that contradicts our laws and the Constitution. By calling him "the leader of the separatists", we attach this puppet, the Armenian "Gauleiter" of our occupied lands, the status of the interested party," shared his opinion on the social network T. Zulfugarov.

He added that Russia did not violate the laws of Azerbaijan, as our country has not given the legal assessment to Sahakyan"s actions. "Why should the Russian Federation consider the Armenian citizen Bako Sahakian an aggressor if our Milli Majlis has not adopted for thirty years a law on Armenian aggression?" Zulfugarov asked, adding that deputies' anti-separatist statements are not considered legal acts. Moreover, the Milli Majlis did not adopt legal acts on the aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan.

Despite the appeals of the political opposition and some MPs of the Azerbaijani parliament, the executive branch does not allow the deputies to discuss and pass laws on occupation and aggression by Armenia. In addition, there is not even a deputy group on the issue of occupation, which could study and put forward proposals and recommendations. Discussion and decision-making on the Karabakh problem in Azerbaijan is the exclusive prerogative of the executive power, which does not allow the transfer of even part of the discourse on Karabakh to legislative power.

Earlier, the press service of the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan rejected the statement by the head of the press service of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, that the arrival of the leader of the Karabakh separatists in this country does not contradict Russia's mediation mission in the Karabakh settlement. MFA AR refers to the Article 5 of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Security between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation of 1997: "The parties undertake not to support the separatist movements, and also prohibit and prevent the activities of individuals against the state sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the other Party." The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan also reminds about the duty of the border service of the Russian Federation to check the validity of the passports of arriving foreigners. Karabakh leaders cross international borders, presenting the passport of the Republic of Armenia. -- 0--