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UK international secretary David Lammy has been accused of a diplomatic blunder after he recommended that Azerbaijan had “liberated” the disputed Caucasus territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The comment was made by Lammy on Monday in a brand new weblog on the Substack web site, the place he plans to jot down extra long-form items about world affairs and UK international coverage.
“Azerbaijan has been in a position to liberate territory it misplaced within the early Nineteen Nineties,” he mentioned within the publish. The sentence had not been eliminated or altered by Friday, regardless of sparking a wave of criticism.
The territory he was apparently referring to was Nagorno-Karabakh, an interpretation that has not been disputed by UK officers.
In September 2023, Azerbaijan launched a brief however bloody army operation to seize the tiny mountainous enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.
In some 24 hours of combating, the Baku authorities restored its management over the territory, which had been held by Armenia or native Armenian leaders for the reason that collapse of the Soviet Union, when a devastating struggle between the 2 historic enemies left it below Armenian management.
Although Baku seized territory that had been internationally recognised as a part of Azerbaijan, the army motion compelled your entire Armenian inhabitants of the enclave — greater than 100,000 folks — to flee inside a number of days. Refugees spent days making a gruelling journey down the mountainside from Karabakh, leaving their properties and lives behind.
Many Armenians, who historically take into account Karabakh a nationwide and non secular heartland, recognized to them as Artsakh, accused Baku of ethnically cleaning the area, one thing Lammy’s remark — and use of the phrase “liberate” to explain Baku’s army motion — did not replicate.
Britain has urged Azerbaijan and Armenia to interact in negotiations to finish their long-standing battle.
Conservative MP Alicia Kearns, former chair of the Home of Commons international affairs committee, mentioned on X that Lammy’s feedback on a “self-importance weblog” gave the impression to be “contradicting long-standing UK coverage” in a method that was “completely inappropriate and throws into query the international secretary’s judgment”.
The International Workplace was compelled to make clear on Friday that Lammy’s remark didn’t mark a change within the UK authorities’s stance on Nagorno-Karabakh.
Nonetheless, the Armenian authorities is formally looking for additional clarification from the UK within the wake of Lammy’s publish, an Armenian official advised the FT.
US congressman Brad Sherman additionally weighed in on X, saying the remarks had been “a stain on UK international coverage”, as he accused the UK international secretary of getting “endorsed ethnic cleaning”.
Laurence Broers, an affiliate fellow on the worldwide affairs think-tank Chatham Home, mentioned: “It’s an actual gaffe by the international secretary.”
Accusing Lammy of the “simplification and conflation” of developments in varied post-Soviet states, Broers mentioned the international secretary was “misreading the scenario” concerning Azerbaijan, and “reinforcing the speaking factors of an autocratic regime”.
The EU parliament accused Baku of enterprise ethnic cleaning within the disputed territory final yr. Azerbaijan has denied the declare.
Nonetheless, Elin Suleymanov, Azeri ambassador to the UK, mentioned: “I don’t perceive why there’s a lot response to this weblog by the international secretary, as a result of what [Lammy] mentioned is completely true . . . It displays the longstanding place of the UK authorities, which has all the time been supportive of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and Armenia.
“For 30 years the territory of Azerbaijan was occupied by Armenian forces, and in 2020, Azerbaijan did liberate its territory.”
After the ceasefire within the area final September, Lammy urged on X that “Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians have to be assured security and dignity”.
The title of the brand new Substack account is Lammy’s title somewhat than his ministerial title, however the weblog was written by the international secretary in an official — somewhat than private — capability.
Nonetheless, the International Workplace refused to substantiate if it had been reviewed internally throughout the division earlier than it was printed.
A International, Commonwealth and Improvement Workplace spokesperson mentioned: “There was no change in UK coverage. The international secretary helps the territorial integrity of each Armenia and Azerbaijan and is inspired by either side participating in significant dialogue. The UK will proceed to help their dedication to lasting peace within the area.”
