Nagorno-Karabakh conflict threatens not only Azerbaijan
By Sara Rajabova
Azerbaijan's foreign policy head has said the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not only Azerbaijan's problem.
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov made the remark while answering the questions of the European MPs during the fall session of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg, France on October 2.
Mammadyarov said the other member states of the Council of Europe are not immune to such conflicts either and cited the crisis in Ukraine as an example.
"Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has remained unresolved for over 20 years. As a result of the conflict, Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territories are currently under Armenian occupation. The residents of these lands were subjected to ethnic cleansing," Mammadyarov said.
The bloody war, which flared up in the late 1980s due to Armenia's territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor, left 700,000 civilians of Nagorno-Karabakh and the regions adjoining it, as well as the regions bordering with Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh without homes.
Moreover, 250,000 Azerbaijanis were expelled from Armenia and became refugees due to Armenia's ethnic cleansing policy after the emergence of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijanis who had displaced from their homes as result of the brutal war were forced to live in refugee camps, tents and wagons in very difficult conditions.
Mammadyarov further added that the OSCE Minsk Group is engaged in the settlement of the conflict, however, no progress has been achieved so far.
He expressed regret that the Azerbaijani lands still remain under the Armenian occupation and the Azerbaijani citizens, who have become IDPs as a result of this occupation, cannot return to their homes.
Mammadyarov said that the conflict poses a serious threat to the stability and security in the region, adding that the main element in the settlement of the conflict is the withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani lands.
As a result of the military aggression of Armenia, over 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed, 4,866 are reported missing and almost 100,000 were injured, and 50,000 were disabled.
The UN Security Council has passed four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but they have not been enforced to this day.