The Association of Diplomacy Correspondents (DMD) has asked the foreign ministry of Turkey for an explanation of a recent statement calling a visit by Turkish journalists to the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region "illegal", Today's Zaman reports.

A crew of the private NTV station visited Nagorno-Karabakh earlier this month, drawing a formal protest from Azerbaijan. The most aggravating factor for the Azerbaijani government was the reporters' application for special permission from the foreign ministry of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, according to the Azerbaijani media.

In a statement released over the weekend, Burak Özügergin, spokesperson for the Turkey's foreign ministry, said the journalists' visit to Nagorno-Karabakh was "against Turkey's policies" and "by no means legal."

Responding this the Association of Diplomacy Correspondents made a following statement: "We remind the Foreign Ministry of the fact that while assuming their professions, journalists don't have to obey official policies, but they do assume their professions in line with professional principles which are set only according to universal norms".