Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his Azerbaijani counterpart on the anniversary of the Khojaly massacre; and whether he plans to make a statement to mark that anniversary.

The events of February 1992 were a tragic episode in Azerbaijan's history, and were strongly condemned by the UK Government at the time. Such hostilities should never take place again. The UK Ambassador to Azerbaijan laid a wreath at the memorial in Baku on 24 February. In recent engagements with the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister on 22 February and Armenian Foreign Minister on 18 January, I [Minister Docherty] reinforced the need for constructive negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan to secure stability and peace in the region.