US Ambassador Earle D Litzenberger was summoned to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, where he met with Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov.

During the meeting, Khalafov informed the U.S. envoy about Armenia’s latest military provocations on the border with Azerbaijan, the Foreign Ministry told News.Az.

He stressed that in order to conceal the occupation policy of the militaristic Armenian authorities, after the Azerbaijani army stopped the provocation made by the Armenian military servicemen on the border, Armenians began to resort to provocations and attacks on diplomatic missions of Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis in the cities of various countries of the world, mainly in those where many Armenians live.

The deputy FM noted that several such provocations were carried out in the US.

“On July 21, unidentified persons attached a banner with an anti-Azerbaijani content to the gate of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Washington, which was circulated in the Armenian online and print media,” he said.

Khalafov also emphasized that another provocation and attack of Armenians took place in Los Angeles, where Armenian radical groups, having surrounded the building of the Consulate General of Azerbaijan, held an aggressive protest action accompanied by provocative slogans against Azerbaijan. During the action, Armenian demonstrators attacked members of the Azerbaijani community, who were conducting a peaceful rally in front of the Consulate General, and who were much less numerous, as a result of which seven Azerbaijanis, including one woman, received bodily injuries of varying severity.

Khalafov noted that it is disappointing that the US police failed to stop a massive attack by aggressive Armenian radicals on representatives of the Azerbaijani community, who gathered for a peaceful rally outside the Azerbaijani Consulate General in Los Angeles.

The deputy minister said that the attack by Armenian extremists on peaceful Azerbaijanis and inflicting bodily harm on them because of their ethnicity in front of the police undermines the reputation of the United States.  

Expressing a strong protest over the incident, Khalafov condemned those who have failed to fulfill their legal duties.

He urged the US government to bring the Armenian radicals who committed these crimes to justice and to legally assess these provocative actions.  

Speaking about the provocation in Los Angeles, the ambassador stressed that there is irrefutable evidence that the provocation in Los Angeles was carried out by aggressive Armenian demonstrators, and it is impossible to justify the attack of the Armenians on the Azerbaijanis, who gathered for a peaceful action, whose number was much less than that of the Armenians.

"This is unacceptable and should not happen in the US," the diplomat added. 

He also noted that the local law enforcement authorities in Los Angeles apologized for the Armenian provocation, as well as for failure to prevent it. In this regard, an investigation will be carried out and appropriate measures taken.

In conclusion, Litzenberger emphasized that he would raise the issues discussed at this meeting before Washington officials, including the issue of extra measures to provide the security of Azerbaijan’s diplomatic missions in the US.

News.Az