Azerbaijan's US envoy responds to NYT comment

To the Editor:

Brenda Shaffer is right to call for a more active United States engagement in resolving the protracted Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. Yet she doesn’t clearly identify the real aggressor in this situation, which is Armenia.

Armenia doesn’t just “control” some 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territory; it illegally occupies it.

This territory has been subject to thorough ethnic cleansing, a fact widely acknowledged by numerous international legal documents, including Security Council resolutions.

Ms. Shaffer shouldn’t be trying to draw unfortunate parallels between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the aggressor and the victim, respectively.

Instead, as an expert on the region, she should know that the best way to move the peace process forward is to begin the withdrawal of Armenian forces from Azerbaijan’s occupied territories.

ELIN SULEYMANOV

Ambassador of Azerbaijan

Washington, Sept. 12, 2014

Bakudaily.Az