Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry reacted to the visit of German Deutsche Welle to the Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) Republic and the video story the news agency made there.
According to ministry spokesperson Hikmet Hajiyev, the video is “biased and one-sided, and has nothing to do with the principles of objective journalism, while the team’s visit is illegal.”
Deutsche Welle reported on the tension at the contact line between the NKR and Azerbaijani armed forces, as well as the recent ceasefire violations. According to the story, 20 years ago Nagorno Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan as a result of a war that left almost 30,000 dead, but people of Artsakh want no more war.
“We are not afraid of war. We believe that we are able to give adequate response to any attempt to start hostilities,” NKR Foreign Minister Karen Mirzoyan told DW.
Meanwhile, Hajiyev said that Azerbaijani embassy to Germany will address the issue to the relevant authorities of the country, Apa.az reports.
Hajiyev also noted that although DW claims to ensure mutual understanding between cultures and peoples around the world, this report “stirs up ethnic and religious conflicts.”
The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan broke out as result of the ethnic cleansing launched by the Azeri authorities in the final years of the Soviet Union. The Karabakh War was fought from 1991 (when the Nagorno Karabakh Republic was proclaimed) to 1994 (when a ceasefire was sealed by Armenia, NKR and Azerbaijan). Most of Nagorno Karabakh and a security zone consisting of 7 regions are now under control of NKR defense army. Armenia and Azerbaijan are holding peace talks mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group up till now.