No:312/24, Response by Deputy Spokesperson Vasif Aliyev to the media inquiry regarding some claims related to our country in the interview of Toivo Klaar, the former special representative of the European Union for the South Caucasus
Question: The former special representative of the European Union for the South Caucasus, Toivo Klaar, during his 4 August interview with the media resource “JAM news”, said that the return of the “Armenians of Karabakh” is the responsibility of Azerbaijan, that the return of the forcibly expelled Azerbaijanis from Armenia depends on the results of the Azerbaijan-Armenia normalization process, that the issue of the “Armenians of Karabakh” is a specific question. We would like to know your view on these points of the representative of the European Union.
Answer: It is unacceptable for Toivo Klaar, the former special representative of the European Union for the South Caucasus, and the appointed ambassador of the European Union to Uzbekistan, to consider as a special case the issue of the return of Armenians voluntarily migrated from the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan to Armenia and other countries where they previously lived, and to condition the right of return of Azerbaijanis forcibly expelled from the territory of current Armenia. It is Armenia’s obligation to create appropriate conditions for the safe and dignified return of Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia to their native lands, and the international community must demand the fulfillment of this obligation.
Ambassador-appointed Toivo Klaar is well aware that despite repeated appeals by the Azerbaijani side for the Armenian residents to stay in their homes and to return back, Armenians have no intention to return to the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan. In this regard, the Azerbaijani side respects the intention of returning to Azerbaijan only of those persons of Armenian origin who respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our country.
On the eve of leaving the office, an EU official’s such biased statements beyond its authority, first and foremost, is another blow to the reputation of the institution he represents.