The adviser to the Embassy of Azerbaijan in the US, Mammad Talibov, has published a letter in the New York Times criticizing the previously released article "A warm welcome in the Caucasus mountains" that encourages tourists to visit the Nagorno-Karabakh region occupied by Armenia.
adviser to the Embassy of Azerbaijan in the US, Mammad Talibov, has published a letter in the New York Times criticizing the previously released article "A warm welcome in the Caucasus mountains" that encourages tourists to visit the Nagorno-Karabakh region occupied by Armenia."The author doesn't tell the full and tragic story of the illegal occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and the displacement of nearly one million Azerbaijani citizens. He failed to inform the readers that by travelling to the occupied territories illegally, they would violate Azerbaijani laws and international rules and never mentioned a number of travel warnings about the area, including ones issued by the US Department of State," Interfax-Azerbaijan cited the letter.The diplomat added that such unauthorized travel results in restrictions on future travel to Azerbaijan.Talibov said that, based on the article, the reader might consider the region to be a tourist destination akin to any other, although according to an International Crisis Group report internally displaced people have to cope with automatic gunfire, land mines, water contamination and fires."Azerbaijan continues to work toward a peaceful resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict so that displaced persons and tourists alike may return to this beautiful land," he stressed.
"The author doesn't tell the full and tragic story of the illegal occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and the displacement of nearly one million Azerbaijani citizens. He failed to inform the readers that by travelling to the occupied territories illegally, they would violate Azerbaijani laws and international rules and never mentioned a number of travel warnings about the area, including ones issued by the US Department of State," Interfax-Azerbaijan cited the letter.
The diplomat added that such unauthorized travel results in restrictions on future travel to Azerbaijan.
Talibov said that, based on the article, the reader might consider the region to be a tourist destination akin to any other, although according to an International Crisis Group report internally displaced people have to cope with automatic gunfire, land mines, water contamination and fires.
"Azerbaijan continues to work toward a peaceful resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict so that displaced persons and tourists alike may return to this beautiful land," he stressed.
