Commenting on a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart in Washington, he said: “We know each-other for a long time. I have apologized to him for what I have said. I made it clear that as I had wrong documents in my hand, in response to a journalist’s question about residents murdered in Khojaly, I said that the Czech Republic is against violation of human rights in any form, but such incidents take place during a war. I was representing the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Nagorno-Karabakh at a time of a war.
“I was flying on Yerevan-Baku-Stepanakert route. It was terrible. Therefore, as seen from the data, I said 60 people were killed there. But it was 600 people. This is totally different thing. There were less dead soldiers compared to the World War I and World War II and this harmed peaceful civilians especially if there is a civil war. I thought that 60 people were killed as a result of some shooting. This happens at a time of war. But 600 people is totally different. This was planned murder. I therefore apologized to him and he understood this. Everyone can get wrong figures. This was my mistake. I admit this,”
Schwarzenberg said Azerbaijani foreign minister accepted his apology.
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