The Czech government did not give consent to the sale of weapons to Azerbaijan
ArmInfo.The Czech government did not give consent to the sale of weapons to Azerbaijan. This was announced at the briefing in the National Assembly of Armenia on October 4 by the chairman of the Czech Senate (upper house of parliament) Milan Shtekh.
"I have no idea how these weapons got to Azerbaijan, I want to assure you that the Czech Republic did not sell weapons to Azerbaijan, as it respects the embargo imposed on such dangerous countries," said the Czech Senate Chairman. In the issue of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, according to Shtekh, the solution is possible only in the format of the OSCE Minsk Group. "This issue can be solved only peacefully, and I am sure that countries such as the United States, Russia and France will be able to find an honest way to resolve this conflict, which will satisfy all parties," said Shtekh.
Also, the chairman of the Senate of the Czech Republic noted that recently Armenia is becoming more and more a democratic country, in which freedom of speech is developing, fair elections are held and human rights are respected.
The head of the Senate also emphasized the deepening of cooperation between the two countries in various fields.
Let's notice, that earlier the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Czechia has not acted this account. In a statement of the country's Foreign Ministry, in particular, it says: "The Czech Republic has not licensed the sale of lethal weapons to Azerbaijan in recent years." According to the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the country's producers must have an appropriate license from the Ministry of Trade and Industry to sell weapons, which is issued on the basis of the conclusion of the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. "But recently such a license for the sale of weapons to Azerbaijan has not been issued. Moreover, in 2016 and 2017, requests for the sale of howitzer Dana M1 and artillery systems RM 70 were rejected, as were the partners in the European Union, "the report said. The Czech Foreign Ministry also admitted that it has no information about how this weapon was at the disposal of Azerbaijan. "The Foreign Ministry will continue to study this issue," the statement said. The Czech Foreign Ministry also emphasizes that a military solution to the Karabakh conflict is not acceptable for Prague. "The Czech Republic supports the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group on the basis of international legal principles and concessions," the country's foreign ministry concludes. Previously, Russian and Azerbaijani media reported that the artillery systems of Czech production "Dana" were also used in the Azerbaijani-Turkish military exercises that were taking place these days.