Azeri Foreign Ministry non grata list includes 435 people who visited Karabakh - spokesman
BAKU. Feb 28 (Interfax) - As many as 435 people have been put on the Azeri Foreign Ministry's blacklist for "illegally visiting the occupied territories" of Azerbaijan, says Azeri Foreign Ministry spokesman Hikmet Hajiyev.
"The list of personae non gratae (blacklist) compiled by the Azeri Foreign Ministry includes 435 citizens of various countries, Hajiyev said at a press conference on Friday.
The list was updated on February 20, and it contains the names of the individuals who have visited the "occupied territories" of Azerbaijan without permission from Azeri authorities, he said.
"We view such visits as violating the law on the state border," he said.
Since 2013, ten people have been removed from this list individually, Hajiyev said. "This or that person can be removed from the list based on their appeal to the government of Azerbaijan," he said.
To be removed from the list, an applicant is supposed to express respect for Azerbaijan's border and sovereignty and regret their illegal visit, he said.
"The individuals who have been to the occupied lands should understand the fact that, by visiting these territories, they propagate terrorism and the separatist regime set up in that region of Azerbaijan," he said.