Washington, May 20, AZERTAC
The New York Times has issued a letter of counselor of the Embassy of Azerbaijan in the US Mammad Talibov in response to the article headlined “A Warm Welcome in the Caucasus Mountains” which was published in the newspaper’s travel section to promote the so-called separatist regime in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.
The letter titled “Displacement in Azerbaijan” says: “In “A Warm Welcome in the Caucasus Mountains” (Frugal Traveler, April 8), 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 traveling to the occupied territories illegally, they would violate the Azerbaijani laws and international rules and never mentions a number of travel warnings about the area, including the ones issued by the U.S. Department of State. Similarly, such unauthorized travel, including his own visit, results in restrictions on future travel to Azerbaijan.
According to an International Crisis Group report, the internally displaced people “have to cope with automatic gunfire, land mines, unexploded munitions, water contamination and fires deliberately set to fields and forests as a military tactic … ” Sadly, based on the article, the reader might consider the region to be a tourist destination akin to any other.
Azerbaijan continues to work toward a peaceful resolution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict so that displaced persons and tourists alike may return to this beautiful land.”
Yusif Babanlı
Special correspondent
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