Հայ
Рус- 15 July, 2022
- Foreign Policy
On September 27, 2020, during the war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh, the Armenian city of Shushi, which came under the control of Azerbaijan, is regularly visited by diplomats accredited in Azerbaijan.
Diplomats from dozens of countries have already participated in such visits organized by the initiative of Baku over the last month. “Union of Informed Citizens” summarized the list of these countries.
Ambassadors of CSTO member states are among the visitors
On the initiative of the Azerbaijani authorities, the first visit of diplomats to Shusih took place in July 2021.
The ambassadors of three CSTO member countries, which are considered military allies of Armenia, took part in it as well.
Among the visitors were the ambassadors of Armenia’s neighbor countries Iran, Turkey, Georgia, as well as the ambassadors of the EU countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Sweden, Italy, Latvia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Greece, Belgium, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania, and Slovakia.
Among the visitors were also heads of diplomatic missions of Ukraine, Brazil, China, Algeria, Palestine, Jordan, Israel, Switzerland, Colombia, Korea, Qatar, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Pakistan, Serbia, Saudi Arabia, Japan, United Arab Emirates, Chile, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, and Venezuela.
Yerevan protest note
Regarding the participation of the ambassadors of some of these countries, the heads of the respective diplomatic missions were invited to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia.
According to the press release of the Foreign Ministry, Ambassadors were sent statements addressed to the governments of their countries, where, in particular, it was stated that Armenia considers the visit of diplomatic representatives accredited to Azerbaijan absolutely unacceptable, including visits to Hadrut and the city of Shushi, the historical center of Artsakh, “which were subjected to ethnic cleansing, and war crimes and mass crimes were committed against the population by the armed forces of Azerbaijan.”
“During all the meetings, it was emphasized that the involvement of diplomatic representatives in such visits contradicts the spirit of cooperation formed between the Republic of Armenia and these countries, as well as the position of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship.
From this point of view, Armenia firmly calls to refrain from any actions that can justify the use of force and thus undermine regional peace and security,” the statement of the Foreign Ministry said.
The refusal of the OSCE Minsk Group countries
The Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, who are the ambassadors of the USA, France and Russia, refused to participate in the mentioned visit.
The Baku regime expressed outrage through its propaganda resources regarding the refusal of the intermediary countries to participate in the organized visit to Shushi.
Assistant of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Himket Hajiyev, told journalists that the ambassadors’ visit to Shushi was the initiative of Aliyev himself. The Azerbaijani press also wrote that the refusal of the ambassadors of the co-chair countries of the Minsk Group is “an emphatic démarche against the victorious President Aliyev”.
The diplomat of RA’s strategic ally visits occupied Shushi and Karvachar
A year later, however, on July 14, the ambassador of Russia, a strategic ally of Armenia, Mikhail Bocharnikov, visited the Armenian Shushi occupied by Azerbaijan, accompanied by the ambassador of Azerbaijan to Russia, Polad Byulbyuloglu.
It should be noted that on May 31, 2022, the Russian Ambassador to Baku visited Karvachar along with diplomats from other countries.
Посол 🇷🇺 в 🇦🇿 Михаил #Бочарников передает подписчикам привет из Кельбаджара, который он посетил сегодня в составе делегации дипкорпуса, аккредитованного в #Баку @MID_RF @AzerbaijanMFA pic.twitter.com/fSvBeq6BtD
— Посольство России в Азербайджане (@embrus_az) May 31, 2022
Nane Manasyan
“Union of Informed Citizens”
