TÁNAISTE MICHEÁL MARTIN has defended the welcome given to an Azerbaijan delegation at Leinster House last week, as ethnic Armenians continue to flee the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

In recent weeks, Armenia urged the United Nations to send a mission to ensure the safety of ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh after the territory was seized back by Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan has promised to respect minority rights, but Armenia has accused the Azerbaijan government of planning ethnic cleansing.

Since then, almost the entire ethnic Armenia population has fled Nagorno-Karabakh as Azerbaijan’s opperation to sieze back control of the region continues. So far over 100,000 ethnic Armenians have fled the region out of a population of 120,000.

Despite this significant escalation and the flood of refugees into Armenia, the Tánaiste defended the warm welcome given to an Azerbaijan delegation at Leinster House last week.

On Wednesday, there was applause as Ceann Comhairle Sean Ó Fearghaíl asked members of the Dáil “to join with me in extending a very warm Céad Míle Fáilte – one hundred thousand welcomes – to my counterpart from Azerbaijan”.

The Ceann Comhairle also held a private meeting with the parliamentary delegation, when he held a discussion with Sahiba Gafarova, chairwoman of Azerbaijan’s National Assembly. 

Speaking to The Journal today, Micheál Martin said it was important to note that the meeting was held in the context of the European Conference of Presidents of Parliament, which the Ceann Comhairle was hosting.

“Delegations come from all over. It’s incumbent on the host to meet delegations and to host them basically without fear or favour,” Martin said.

“We’ve been very clear that the Nagorno-Karabakh issue should have been resolved through peaceful means,” he added. 

The Tánaiste said he spoke to the Armenian foreign minister a number of weeks ago who he said really articulated the humanitarian crisis faced by residents in the region.

“This idea of resolving it by brute force is not acceptable. Our foreign policy is very clear in denouncing military aggression as Azerbaijan has shown here.”

The Armenian Ambassador to Ireland, Varuzhan Nersesyan told The Journal that the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh is the culmination of a 10-month blockade of the region by Azerbaijan, which aimed at “starving the population of the Nagorno-Karabakh into submission”.

“Once the population was weakened through starvation due to the blockade on September 19 and 20, Azerbaijan launched a large-scale attack indiscriminately targeting civilian infrastructure resulting in the deaths of hundreds of lives, including several children.

“Nagorno-Karabakh has now been ethnically cleansed of all Armenians, over 100,000 people have fled their ancestral homeland fearing for their safety,” he said.

Meanwhile, earlier today the Cean Comhairle defended his meeting with the Azerbaijan delegation in an interview with The Irish Independent.

He said his desire was “about finding a peaceful solution to the situation that has arisen.”

“If east Donegal, was occupied by the British or the coloniser, what would we do?,” Ó Fearghaíl said.

He added: “We respect territorial integrity and are absolutely committed to the protection and promotion of human rights. I’m not in any way embarrassed to have spoken with and met both speakers.” 

Additional reporting from Niall O’Connor.