Azernews.Az

By Rashid Shirinov

The illegal visit of a group of Turkish citizens to the occupied Azerbaijani lands does not meet the strategic cooperation, friendly and brotherly relations existing between Azerbaijan and Turkey, said Elman Nasirov.

The Azerbaijani MP told Trend that this casts a shadow on the Azerbaijani-Turkish relations.

“This also causes confusion in the Azerbaijani society. Today the relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey are an example for all countries of the world,” Nasirov said. “However, such actions of a group of individuals, calling themselves “the Turkish intellectuals,” caused fair discontent in the Azerbaijani society.”

The MP added that Turkey always supports Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan supports Turkey, noting that the main reason for the closure of Turkey's border with Armenia was the Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territories.

“In this case, the illegal visit of Turkish citizens to Nagorno-Karabakh is unclear and it is a crime. The Prosecutor's Office of Azerbaijan has rightly opened a criminal case on this fact, these individuals should be prosecuted,” said Nasirov.

Without documents and consent from relevant executive authorities, four Turks Ufuk Uras, Ali Bayramoglu, Said Cekinoglu and Erol Katircioglu crossed the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan avoiding checkpoints on September 22. The Grave Crimes Investigation Department of Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor General's Office filed a criminal case under Criminal Code’s Article 318.2 (illegally crossing Azerbaijan’s state borders) against them.

That is, they deliberately traveled from territory of Armenia and illegally arrived in occupied Khankendi and other settlements of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. They have been declared in the international wanted list. Azerbaijan also sent an appeal to the Turkish law enforcement agencies in order to detain the four citizens.

Unauthorized visits to Nagorno-Karabakh and other regions of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia are considered illegal, and any individuals paying such visits are included in the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry's list of undesirable persons. Baku continues the work to prevent such illegal actions, and the foreign citizens should keep their eyes peeled in order not to be deceived by Armenian occupiers.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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