Ambassador calls on Western journalists to abandon negative narratives against Azerbaijan

The Guardian has published a letter from the Ambassador of Azerbaijan to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Elin Suleymanov, addressed to its editors regarding a biased article, Report informs.

The letter notes that Azerbaijan and Armenia, for the first time since gaining independence, have reached a very important agreement towards normalizing relations. The border delimitation agreement between the two countries was highly praised by the international community and supported by the leadership of both countries, but the inappropriately negative tone of the article published in The Guardian newspaper does not reflect the current reality.

"Moreover, he (the author - Patrick Wintour) fails to mention that the main reason for hostilities and instability over the years was the 30-year illegal occupation of the internationally recognised Azerbaijani lands by Armenia. So much so, that Mr Wintour described the return of four Azerbaijani villages previously occupied by Armenia and clearly located in Azerbaijan, as acknowledged by all existing maps and even Armenian officials, as 'ceded' to Azerbaijan.

Mr Wintour is right, however, about Armenia’s history of perpetual and futile search for allies outside the region, while a lasting peace requires normalisation with immediate neighbours. He is also correct to quote an ethnic Armenian resident of Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region referring to separatists urging local Armenians to leave by stoking fears and ethnic division," reads the letter.

"Perhaps, it is time to abandon narratives of doom and gloom, and support the remarkable progress that Azerbaijan and Armenia are making towards peace," Elin Suleymanov added.