Russian expert who had visited NKR suggests Azerbaijan not to go off into hysterics about 'black list' and to take legal action
"I am relying on the principal of the supremacy and generally accepted norms of international law. The right of the people to self-determination is inalienable. That's why I do not see any reason and ground to discuss the legal side of my personal journey to Stepanakert," in an interview with the Azerbaijani news agency "Vesti.az" stated Associate Professor of Theory and History of State and Law department at Russian Moscow State University for Humanities Sergei Karnaukhov while commenting on his visit to Nagorno-Karabakh.
Karnaukhov also noted that the comments on the official dispositions of the international process around Nagorno-Karabakh are the prerogative of the authorized people: "I am not authorized. Therefore it is appropriate to answer the questions of a personal nature. So personally me and my friends we are well aware of both positions. But we have our own opinion. And we surely have all the right for it."
Karnaukhov wonders why Azerbaijan shifts to the ordinary people and public figures the burden of the PR campaign. "If Azerbaijan sees in my disposition corpus delicti, then why do we need hysterics? File a criminal case in absentia to bring charges, seek extradition, punish," Sergey Karnaukhov said.
Referring to the question of "Vesti.az" correspondent about the interview given to Armenian press where Karnaukhov expressed his desire to get into the "black list" of Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, he noted that he doesn’t care what kind of paradoxes national legal systems of different countries create.
"If it helps Azerbaijan to strengthen Armenia’s friendship with many people around the world then I am ready to get involved in it, with pride and sincerity. Armenia is a very important part of my cultural and creative life," said Sergey Karnaukhov.
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry had issued a list of people who had become persona non grata in Azerbaijan because they had visited Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, thus they are forbidden to enter the country. Names of 335 people were included in the list. In particular, this list includes the names of the members of the parliament of Australian South Wales state Gladys Berezhiklyan, State Duma deputy Oleg Pokholkov, a member of the Ukrainian magazine "Profil" Barbara Zhlutenko, Moscow correspondent of The Washington Post Will Englund, Austrian conductor Ernest Getslii, Spanish opera singer Montserrat Caballe, etc.