STEPANAKERT. – Nagorno-Karabakh is not and has never been a part of Azerbaijan, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) President’s press secretary Davit Babayan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Babayan commented on the Azerbaijan MFA press service representative’s announcement with respect to their willingness to issue passports, and visas—including Schengen—to the Nagorno-Karabakh residents, should they apply.  

Describing the Azerbaijan MFA representative’s announcement as foolishness, Babayan advised Azerbaijan to, first and foremost, “issue a visa to [Ramil] Safarov [the Azerbaijani military officer who had killed with an axe Armenian lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan, in his sleep, during a NATO Partnership for Peace program in Budapest in 2004, who was extradited to Azerbaijan, where he received a hero’s welcome and was released], send him to Europe so he again may be put to jail, since that is where criminals belong.”    

The NKR President’s press secretary also recalled that the NKR citizens already have passports.

As for the NKR citizens’ use of the Republic of Armenia passports, in Babayan’s words, this is a voluntary yet an obligatory measure to communicate with the outside world.

“Armenia’s issuance of passports to the NKR citizens is yet another striking evidence that Armenia, unlike Azerbaijan, carries out the provisions of international humanitarian law,” he noted. 

As per Davit Babayan, once the NKR is recognized by the international community, its citizens will travel with their own passports.