Nagorno Garabagh

"The embassy carefully read the statement of the press service of the First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots Konstantin Zatulin dated October 17, 2019," the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the Russian Federation told APA's Moscow correspondent.

"The statement reads that the note sent by the Embassy to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation is the apotheosis of a hysterical campaign against visiting a deputy of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.We draw attention to what Mr. Zatulin calls the “hysterical campaign”, is nothing more than a call to stop the destructive activities that he has been conducting for many years, using his position in order to damage the high level of cooperation between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation Federation.

At the same time, the Embassy calls on all people who, under the guise of humanitarian intentions, to try to put themselves up as peace guides, turn their attention to the Azerbaijani people, who have been waiting for more than 30 years for a fair settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, restoration of the country's territorial integrity and punishment of those guilty of ethnic cleansing of the Azerbaijani population, Khojaly genocide and other war crimes.

Regarding the groundless arguments cited by the press service of the Russian deputy, in particular, claiming that the Embassy appealed to the Russian Foreign Ministry due to the lack of an exact answer regarding the deputy’s statements about a fair solution to the conflict, we are reporting that, apart from Zatulin himself, this truth has long been known to everyone. Not only Azerbaijan, but the entire world community, including Russia, knows quite well what a fair solution to the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be. Moreover, we repeat once again that allegedly “herald of peace” Konstantin Zatulin, being an official, a member of the ruling party, and a representative in parliament, is obliged (!) To adhere to the official position of Russia on the Karabakh conflict, which, for his information, is determined not by him, but leadership of the Russian Federation. And attempts to present the obvious by distorting the words and intentions set forth in the note of the Embassy are nothing more than a manifestation of his biased position. The embassy in no way arrogates to itself the right to arbitrarily formulate Russia's position. We proceed from the official position of the Russian Federation and rely on diplomatic notes of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Naturally, Konstantin Zatulin has the right to his personal opinion, which he, of course, can share with his Armenian friends and patrons, which probably happens in the dining room of the Institute of the CIS countries he leads. However, a deputy’s visit to the occupied territories in violation of Azerbaijani legislation, as well as his participation in separatist events, is absolutely unacceptable and thereby only inflicts a blow on the status and reputation of Mr. Zatulin himself.

As for the participation of representatives of the United States and European countries, and the subsequent reaction of the Azerbaijani side, we inform you that appropriate actions are being taken by our embassies in these countries. At the same time, we would like to note that the expectations from Russia, as the main country in the region and the co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, are quite large and therefore the reaction to the participation of the Russian deputy in such events is also appropriate.

On the issue of deportation of citizens of the Russian Federation with Armenian surnames, the Embassy draws attention to the fact that the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov in his interview to the Izvestia newspaper has already given exhaustive explanations, which Mr. Zatulin can be found at: https: // iz. com / 931686 / elnar-bainazarov / my-nikuda-ne-denemsia-nado-vesti-peregovory-s-armeniei.

The deputy’s press service is also trying to justify the illegal actions of Konstantin Zatulin by mentioning Ramil Safarov and Alexander Lapshin, on which the Azerbaijani side has repeatedly expressed its position. The embassy believes that such speculations are aimed at misleading the Russian public.

It would be more appropriate for the deputy to speak out about the continuing policy of Armenia on the glorification of accomplices of fascism in the person of Garegin Nzhdeh and in this regard to familiarize themselves with the position of the Russian Foreign Ministry on this issue.

It is also erroneous that the Embassy in its above note avoided any references to the peaceful settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by providing for some malicious intent. This conclusion causes only a smile, since the Republic of Azerbaijan is an affected party to the conflict and is interested in its speedy settlement, the proof of which is the constructive participation of our country in the negotiation process, despite the absence of specific results, and the repeated declaration of the unacceptability of maintaining the status quo in the occupied territories, as the presidents of the co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group have repeatedly stated.

And the statement regarding “apartheid of the Russian population” once again confirms that Mr. Zatulin, greatly carried away by participation in separatist events of a dubious nature, lost his sense of reality and was not aware of the peaceful coexistence of representatives of different nationalities and religions in Azerbaijan, and even more so reigning in the country an atmosphere of tolerance and more than respect for the Russian language.

Despite all of the above, as follows from the words of Konstantin Zatulin, he continues to look for ways to solve problems in which, in his opinion, his voters and the Russian Federation as a whole are interested.The embassy, wanting to satisfy his desire, once again reveals to him the obvious truth. A just solution to the conflict, in which everyone is interested, except for the Karabakh separatists themselves and Konstantin Zatulin, is already enshrined in the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and other international legal documents, which the Russian Federation also adheres to.The embassy hopes that Konstantin Fedorovich, who occupies all the posts listed on his official website, will correctly recognize the reaction of Azerbaijani society to his irresponsible actions and will embark on the path of truth,” the embassy said.