«Abducted Artsakh Residents Do Not Intend to Return»: Baku Responds to Klaar's Statements

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan has responded to the statements made by the EU's Special Representative for the South Caucasus, Toivo Klaar, claiming that it is "unacceptable for Artsakh residents to make declarations about their return to their homeland," thereby limiting the "right of forcibly displaced Azerbaijanis from Armenia to return to their homeland."

The Azerbaijani MFA asserts that "Armenia is obligated to create appropriate conditions for the safe and dignified return of Azerbaijanis displaced from Armenia to their native lands, and the international community must demand the fulfillment of this obligation." They have stated that "despite the calls from the Azerbaijani side, the abducted residents of Artsakh are not planning to return: 'The Azerbaijani side respects the intentions of those individuals of Armenian descent to return to Azerbaijan, provided they respect our country's territorial integrity and sovereignty. Klaar makes such prejudicial statements unrelated to his responsibilities on the eve of his departure from office; this is another blow to the credibility of the organization that primarily represents the EU,'" the statement from the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs reads.