Baku warns Russian peacekeepers against using incorrect names for Azerbaijani settlements

By Faruk Zorlu

ANKARA (AA) - Azerbaijan on Sunday warned Russian peacekeeping forces deployed in Azerbaijani territory over misnaming its settlements.

"It is inadmissible to mention the Karabakh economic region as Nagorno-Karabakh territory," Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Calling on the command of the Russian peacekeeping forces temporarily stationed in a certain part of the Karabakh Economic Region of Azerbaijan to abide by the names mentioned in official documents, the statement said "it is necessary to refer to the names of Azerbaijani settlements in the relevant information with the correct toponyms mentioned in the official documents sent to them."

“In the official information of the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation, published on the official website of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on 27.11.2022, the official names of the Azerbaijani settlements referred (to) as "Mardakert" and "Martuni" are AGHDARA and KHOJAVAND, respectively,” it added.

Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.

In the fall of 2020 in 44 days of clashes, Baku liberated several cities, villages and settlements from Armenian occupation, ending in a Moscow-brokered truce. The peace agreement is celebrated as a triumph in Azerbaijan.

In line with the agreement, Armenian forces withdrew from Azerbaijani territories and Russian peacekeeping forces were deployed in the region.