Azerbaijan MFA responds to Maria Zakharova's statement

Baku. 30 November. REPORT.AZ / "By the logic of the Russian Foreign Ministry commentary, Bako Sahakyan visited lake Baikal for recreation, not Moscow, where he held meetings as the so-called 'head' of the illegal entity created in the territories of Azerbaijan occupied as a result of the use of force and total ethnic cleansing," acting spokesperson of Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry Leyla Abdullayeva said.

Report informs that she commented on the statement of the spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova.

The statement by Zakharova says that "this trip cannot be considered a private one. Its status is obvious. It contradicts neither Russian legislation, existing international agreements, nor Russia's mediation mission in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement."

"We would like to remind you again the article 5 of the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Security between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation signed in 1997 which says that the Parties undertake not to support the separatist movements, as well as prohibit and suppress the activities of individuals, aimed against state sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the other side'." Leyla Abdullayeva said.

She noted that in this regard, it would be appropriate to indicate paragraph 4 of article 15 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation: "Universally recognized principles and norms of international law as well as international agreements of the Russian Federation should be an integral part of its legal system. If an international agreement of the Russian Federation establishes rules, which differ from those stipulated by law, then the rules of the international agreement shall be applied."

"As for the mediation mission of Russia, the document defining the mandate of the OSCE Minsk group co-chairs clearly states: "The Co-Chairmen will be guided in their activities by the principles and norms of the OSCE, the United Nations Charter, decisions of the OSCE fora, including the decisions by the Council of Ministers on 24 March 1992 and particularly the Budapest Summit Decision, and as applicable resolutions of the United Nations Security Council."

It arises the question that if this is really a "private" trip of a person from the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Russian Federation (we would like to recall that in accordance with security Council resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 the Russian Federation recognizes the Nagorno-Karabakh region as the territory of Azerbaijan), have appropriate requirements been applied for crossing the state border of Russia, primarily concerning the presentation of a valid document issued in accordance with the legislation of the country of origin – Azerbaijan?", Leyla Abdullayeva said.