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Azerbaijani Ambassador to Lithuania: Dalia Kuodyteâ€™s visit to Azerbaijanâ€™s occupied territory triggered serious public condemnation in the country itself

02 September 2014 14:53 (UTC +04:00)

He noted that he held meetings with the vice-speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas, the chairman of the Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee and the deputy foreign minister.

“Friendly relations between Azerbaijan and Lithuania were especially emphasized at each of those meetings. Lithuania’s parliamentary and governmental leaders, intellectuals, the country's leading media outlets and MPs strongly condemned the visit. Each of them stresses Azerbaijan being an important strategic partner for Lithuania during the meetings with me and criticizes this visit. And they particularly emphasize that this visit is the result of Mrs Dalia Kuodyte preferring her personal interests to the Lithuanian state’s interests,” the ambassador said.

Mammadzadeh noted that as a protest against this visit, Lithuania's 15 well-known public organizations are going to appeal to the President of Lithuania with a joint statement.

The Ambassador said that Armenian media reports regarding this trip and staff are “nothing more than show”:

“The Vice-Speaker of the Lithuanian Parliament has today issued a detailed statement in the local media about how this trip took place. He said that in July of this year, two MPs appealed to the relevant committee of the parliament for permission to visit Armenia. After investigation, it became known that the program included a visit to Azerbaijan’s occupied territory and it was hidden from the parliamentary administration. Therefore, the Parliament hasn’t allowed this trip. The MPs were told that the visit to the occupied territory would cause concern in Azerbaijan. As a result of negotiations conducted by the parliamentary leadership, one of the MPs refused to visit. Mrs. Dalia Kuodyte paid a private trip preferring her personal interests,” he said.