Network of Azerbaijani Canadians condemns Canadian FM’s statement

The Network of Azerbaijani Canadians (NAC) and the Azerbaijani Canadian community deplore the recent statement made by Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly where she referred to Azerbaijan’s internationally recognised territory of Karabakh as “Artsakh”.

“Artsakh” is an illegal, Russia-backed separatist regime on the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan unrecognised by any country in the world, including Canada. The illegal regime has been responsible for three decades of UN-condemned occupation of Azerbaijan’s sovereign territories, over 40,000 lives lost in Armenia’s wars of invasion, the ethnic cleansing of 800,000 Azerbaijani civilians from their homes, the destruction of Azerbaijani cities, and the ongoing landmine catastrophe in Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region, Caliber.Az reports, citing NAC.

“The insensitivity toward Azerbaijani Canadians, who have suffered from Armenia’s invasion of Azerbaijan, mass ethnic cleansing, and massacres in the 1990s, is deplorable. This is akin to referring to the Russia-occupied parts of sovereign Ukraine by their separatist names.

This past January, Canada’s Foreign Minister’s Parliamentary Secretary rightfully expressed Canada’s support for Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity in the House of Commons. In the strongest possible terms, we condemn Minister Joly’s recent comments, which contradict Canada’s official position. The implication of the comments expressed by Canada’s Foreign Minister is irresponsible at best, detrimental to international diplomacy and the ongoing EU-facilitated peace-building process between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

We have written to Minister Joly’s office requesting a meeting to discuss this in person and will await a prompt response,” the statement said.

TORONTO - Please see our statement regarding Canada’s Foreign Minister, Hon. @melaniejoly’s recent comments regarding Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region.

In the strongest possible terms we condemn the usage of illegal separatist terminology in reference to Azerbaijan’s sovereign… pic.twitter.com/xMlb4GAePe

— Network of Azerbaijani Canadians (@azcanet) August 23, 2023