Baku slams Netherlands’ ‘biased approach’ vis-a-vis Azerbaijan

By Esra Tekin

ISTANBUL (AA) - Azerbaijan on Tuesday slammed the Netherlands for calling the liberation of Azerbaijani territories as the “takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh.”

“The Dutch side on another occasion has been demonstrating a biased approach vis-à-vis Azerbaijan and the post-conflict situation in the region,” Aykhan Hacizade, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said in a statement.

His remarks came after the Netherlands set out a program that includes an International Security Chapter, which, while mentioning the escalated conflicts, labels the liberation of Azerbaijani territories as the “takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh.”

“First and foremost, it is unacceptable that this country has identified the liberation of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan as a “takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh,” Hacizade said.

Noting that the Karabakh region has always been an “integral part” of the country which was under Armenian illegal occupation for almost 30 years, Hacizade said: “Turning a blind eye by the Netherlands to this illegal act of Armenia is regretful.”

Hacizade also said that calling Karabakh as ”Nagorno-Karabakh” is “another blatant manifestation of the territorial claims” of Armenia against Azerbaijan.

Reiterating that there is no such a thing as “Nagorno Karabakh”, Hacizade urged every state and organization to call the region as “standardized by the relevant authorities of the Republic of Azerbaijan that is also accepted within the UN Group of Experts on Geographical Names.”

Baku also called on the Dutch side to stop making statements that harm the bilateral relations between the two nations and “hinder the future development of the region based on respect for the norms and principles of international law.”

Relations between Baku and Yerevan have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

Most of the territory was liberated by Azerbaijan during a 44-day war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement that opened the door to normalization and the demarcation of their border.

In September 2023, Azerbaijan established full sovereignty in Karabakh following an "anti-terrorist operation" after which separatist forces in the region surrendered.