Baku Criticizes Pompeo's Statement

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan has deemed the recent statement by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as inconsistent with the status of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair.

On October 15, Pompeo expressed several thoughts regarding the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict during an interview with WSB Atlanta. The Azerbaijani side believes that the U.S. Secretary of State's comments do not align with the official position of the U.S. government, which has been repeatedly stated by Washington. Furthermore, these remarks do not correspond with the U.S.'s status as one of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group,” the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry stated.

On October 15, Secretary of State Pompeo expressed hope that “the Armenians will be able to protect themselves from what the Azerbaijanis are doing.” He specifically mentioned, “What is happening today in Azerbaijan and Armenia is dangerous. The Turks have intervened and provided means to Azerbaijan, increasing the risk for this region known as Nagorno-Karabakh. It’s a small area with a population of 150,000.”