FM reveals foreign reporters illegally visiting occupied lands

Azerbaijan declared a total of 180 foreign journalists ‘personae non grata’ for illegally entering the occupied Azerbaijani territories.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hikmat Hajiyev announced about this while talking to Azertac, further adding that these reporters are mainly from the CIS region, in particular Russia and Ukraine.

Hajiyev said that the actual “black list” of the Ministry includes 623 people. “The majority of people, who visited the Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenian, were representatives of Russia, Germany, France, Italy and the U.S.,” said Hajiyev.

So far, nearly 20 persons’ names were withdrawn from the list for the reason that they officially apologized, he added.

The spokesman mentioned that the investigations revealed that in 2016, as in previous years, most of foreigners travelling illegally to the occupied Azerbaijani territories were deceived.

Unauthorized visits to NagornoKarabakh and other regions of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia are considered illegal, and any individuals paying such visits are included in the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry's "black list".

Baku has repeatedly warned foreign officials and diplomats of unauthorized visits to its territories that are occupied by Armenia, calling them contradictory to international law.

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry and diplomatic missions pay special attention to the illegal activity in the occupied areas of Azerbaijan. The work is constantly carried out to prevent such illegal actions.