The Greek periodical Greek City Times has touched upon the visit of Greece’s ambassador to Baku, Nikos Piperikos, together with other representatives of the diplomatic corps, to the city of Shushi, currently under Azerbaijani control.
Journalist Paul Antonopoulos noted that the Azerbaijani regime had recently organised a propaganda tour for more than forty diplomats to the currently occupied territories of Mountainous Karabagh, which are Armenian both historically and demographically.
The journalist drew attention to the fact that last year, when Greece’s ambassador was presenting his credentials to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, the latter had said that “Baku supports brotherly Turkey on every issue, including the Turkish-Greek disagreements in the Eastern Mediterranean, and that is no secret.”
“And although the Azerbaijani dictator openly told Ambassador Piperikos that his country blindly supports Turkey in the matter of stealing Greece’s maritime rights in the Eastern Mediterranean, he nevertheless joined the propaganda tour over the past weekend,” wrote the journalist.
He recalled that the invasion of Mountainous Karabagh, sponsored by Turkey, led to horrific war crimes, such as beheadings, the use of white phosphorus and the deliberate targeting of churches, and even double strikes against journalists.
Antonopoulos recalled that Greece’s Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias was the highest-ranking foreign official to visit Armenia during the 2020 Mountainous Karabagh war, when Greek society came forward with demands to express support for the country at war.
“Nevertheless, Greek society is now upset that Ambassador Piperikos joined the propaganda tour organised by the Azerbaijani regime, especially since the ambassadors of the USA, Russia and France refused to join them,” wrote Antonopoulos.
He noted that although Azerbaijan does not recognise the illegal entity created by Turkey under the name “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,” its autonomous region of Nakhichevan violates UN Security Council Resolution 541 and UN Security Council Resolution 550.
“Decision-makers in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, have for now not officially recognised the so-called ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,’ fearing that Greece and Cyprus might strike back by recognising Mountainous Karabagh as an independent republic. Here the question arises as to why Ambassador Piperikos joined the propaganda tour to the occupied territories of Mountainous Karabagh, especially when the American, Russian and French colleagues refused that step,” wrote Antonopoulos.
It was noted that Ambassador Piperikos did not answer the questions posed by social media users in this regard. Greece’s Foreign Ministry did not answer the questions sent by the periodical at the time of publication.
