The Azerbaijani Community of the Nagorno Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan has issued a statement in connection with the speech made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the Community told ONA.
The Statement reads:
“As the Azerbaijani Community of Nagorno Garabagh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan, we state that such kind of expressions, sounded by an experienced diplomat like Sergey Lavrov, evokes serious surprise and regret. Speaking in the XVI plenary session of the Valdai International Discussion Club held in Russia’s Sochi last month, President Ilham Aliyev clarified the issue and stated that there is not a concept of “Nagorno Garabagh nation”. Nagorno Garabagh has population, the population consisted of Azerbaijani and Armenian people with equal rights until the start of the conflict. Azerbaijani population of Nagorno Garabagh was subjected to ethnic cleansing like the population of other 7 adjacent regions, occupied as a result of Armenian military aggression against Azerbaijan.
Armenian and Azerbaijani committees of Nagorno Garabagh have been identified as the interested parties within the framework of the OSCE Minsk group process which responsible for the settlement of the conflict. “The people of Nagorno Garabagh” concept has never been reflected in the documents of important international organizations regarding Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno Garabagh conflict."