Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Chavushoglu, who is currently in Azerbaijan, spoke to reporters about the four Turkish intellectuals who travelled to Nagorno Karabakh on September 22.
At the same time let us note that Prosecutor’s Office of Azerbaijan had made a decision to detain Ufuk Uras, the founder member of the Greens and the Left-wing Party of Turkey, head of the “Ankara Platform of Thought” NGO, writer and publicist Sait Chetinoglu, reporters Ali Bayramoglu and Erol Katerejoglu for visiting Artsakh and had announced an international search.
According to the Turkish “Haberler” news website, Chavushoglu noted that Ankara is concerned about the fact that these people had travelled to Nagorno-Karabakh without the permission of Azerbaijan and without informing the Turkish authorities.
“Illegally entering Azerbaijani territory is a crime. Especially if we consider how sensitive the Karabakh problem is. When seven surrounding areas are still in occupation. This is why we also started an investigation over those people travelling to Karabakh once Azerbaijan did. They have already been summoned to give testimony to the court. Those people even called me and said that they did not realize that they were committing a crime. I told them they must give an explanation to the Azerbaijani authorities. After all, they are not elementary school pupils. Although they noted that leaving for Karabakh, they defended Azerbaijan, criticized the “Khojaly massacre”, expressed views supporting Azerbaijan in the Karabakh issue, but nevertheless going there illegally is already a crime”.
The Turkish Foreign Minister informed that Turkish intellectuals who left for Artsakh had sent a letter to Baku and stated that they had not realized they were committing a crime.
“Nevertheless, the legal process is already underway. Let this be a lesson, so that no one else visits Karabakh without permission, which is Azerbaijani territory. It is unacceptable both for us and Azerbaijan”, concluded the Turkish Foreign Minister.