Azerbaijan invites UN to Karabakh region

ISTANBUL

Baku invited a delegation of relevant UN institutions to Azerbaijan on Friday to conduct investigations in the Karabakh region.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Aykhan Hajizada said that during Armenia’s occupation, Armenia blocked or restricted international missions from visiting the territories to verify the results of occupation, destruction and illegal activities.

“Despite the mentioned inactions, following the anti-terrorism measures conducted several days ago, Azerbaijan has invited relevant UN agencies to visit its Garabagh region. Such a visit will be conducted in the coming days under the auspices of the UN Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan, in line with the UN-Azerbaijan Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (2021-2025),” he said in a statement.

Last week, in the wake of provocations by Armenian forces in Karabakh, Azerbaijan said it launched "counter-terrorism" activities in the region to uphold a 2020 trilateral peace agreement with Russia and Armenia. After 24 hours, a cease-fire was reached.

The statement said the visit will create an opportunity to familiarize with the current humanitarian activities of Azerbaijan in the region. “Moreover, certain infrastructure restoration, the process of disarmament and seizure of weaponry from illegal Armenian armed forces, and threats emanating from the landmines will be demonstrated to the members of the team,” it said.

Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan and seven adjacent regions.

Azerbaijan liberated several cities, villages and settlements from the occupation in the fall of 2020, during 44 days of clashes.

The war ended with a Russia-brokered cease-fire.