Official Baku strictly criticized Cyprus MFA statement about Karabakh
ArmInfo. Official Baku strictly criticized Cyprus MFA Ioannis Kasoulides statement on Nagorgno Karabakh.
Azerbaijani MFA press service head Khikmed Gadjiev noted that Cyprus
MFA statement on Karabakh conflict contradicts international rights
and obligations of that country on the Helsinki final act and other
international documents. "This serves as a motivation of aggressive
and occupational policy of Armenia against Azerbaijan. His words
affect negotiation process on peaceful settlement of the conflict
through intermediary of OSCE Minsk Group co chairs and attempts to
reach stable peace in the region. This opinion does not correspond
with basic forms and principles of EU international right positions,
OSCE and Council of Europe, which member is Cyprus", Azerbaijani
spokesman said.
At the same time, he expressed confidence that Kasoulides contradicts
himself with such statements, as on January 26 of the current year
during the speech in Permanent Council of OSCE as a chairman of
Ministries Committee CE, he stated that Cyprus intends to definitely
support the principles of territorial completeness, sovereignty and
political independence of the states. "I would like to note also that
North Cyprus is a territory, where Turks lived for centuries as
native people, and they have right on self determination. Due to the
lack of transparency, there are also some questions and doubts about
the military cooperation between Cyprus and Armenia. We hope that the
issue will be considered within the framework of the relevant
positions of the European Union and the OSCE on military aspects of
the conflict,"Gadjiev said.
To note, on May 30, the head of the Armenian Defense Ministry, who is
on a visit to Nicosia, met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Cyprus Ioannis Kasoulides. Among other issues, the partner also
talked about Cyprus and Karabakh issues. According to the Foreign
Minister of Cyprus, it is wrong to draw parallels between the two
conflicts, since unlike the northern Cyprus occupied by Turkey,
Artsakh is a historical territory of Armenians who have always lived
there, fought for their own security and proclaimed independence. In
his turn, Sargsyan expressed gratitude for the balanced position of
Cyprus on the Karabakh issue. He noted that it is extremely important
for friendly Armenia.