Azerbaijani MP: Karabakh conflict poses threat to regional security
By Rashid Shirinov
The Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict poses a clear threat to regional security, Azerbaijani MP Elshad Hasanov said during the spring session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg on April 25.
“I think that protracted conflicts are a serious challenge for the European continent. Armenia continues to occupy Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven adjacent regions,” he said, stressing that the international community recognizes that these lands are an integral part of Azerbaijan.
Hasanov added that almost one million Azerbaijanis were forced to leave their native lands as a result of this conflict and they turned into internally displaced persons (IDPs) on their territory.
Speaking about the work being carried out by the Azerbaijani government to improve the living conditions of refugees, the MP noted that the country is ready to share experience in solving the humanitarian crises.
Another Azerbaijani MP, Sahiba Gafarova, also addressed the PACE spring session. She stressed that the Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan led to the occupation of 20 percent of the country’s territory, a full-scale war and the mass displacement of thousands of people, including women and children.
“Azerbaijan is solving the problem of its refugees and IDPs, whose number has grown to 1.2 million. Appropriate measures are taken to improve the living conditions of these people,” Gafarova noted. She added that 95 residential complexes were built to modern standards, and more than 25,000 refugees and IDPs received new apartments.
With a population of almost 10 million, Azerbaijan is among the countries carrying the highest IDP caseload in the world in per capita terms. However, enjoying the growing economic and political situation in the country, the Azerbaijani government pays much attention to the most difficult problems concerning the refugees and IDPs. The country adopted relevant programs and legislative acts, and it continues to improve the living conditions of refugees and IDPs.
In her speech, Gafarova also stressed that after the occupation of Azerbaijani territories, all the occupied regions were renamed.
“The Azerbaijani city of Khojaly is now called Ivanyan. Khristofor Ivanyan was a general of the Armenian army who actively participated in the occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh,” Gafarova said, stressing the need to use the original Azerbaijani names.
Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan by laying territorial claims on the country. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.
To this day, Armenia has not implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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