No:366/22, Head of the Press Service Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Leyla Abdullayeva responds to the media's question.

Question: During the meeting with the Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Minister for Europe at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Graham Stuart expressed deep regret about the attack on the Azerbaijani embassy in London, emphasized that UK attaches great importance to the safety of the diplomatic staff in the country, and said that they support the exercising of the freedom of expression in a peaceful manner. Can we have you comment on this?

Answer: The incident at the embassy of Azerbaijan is an attack and provocation by members of a radical religious group against the diplomatic mission, and this event seriously raises the issue of the security of our diplomatic mission.  We want to emphasize once again that the security of the diplomatic missions, including the diplomats, must be ensured by the host country in accordance with international obligations. It is important in this regard that the British Minister mentioned the security of the diplomatic staff as a priority issue. 

As for the "exercising of the freedom of expression", the relevant institutions of Britain, an ancient Western democracy, are most probably well aware of the ways/rules of application of this principle in a free society, which has nothing to do with the attack on our embassy in London. Otherwise, interpretation of any radical and illegal step under the guise of "freedom" may cause serious problems for the country's security. 

We expect that the attack on our embassy in London will be thoroughly investigated and the perpetrators will be brought to justice.