MFA: Armenia seeks to changes demographics in occupied lands
By Akbar Mammadov
Armenia once again uses the regional situation to illegally settle the Armenian population from some Middle Eastern countries in Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions, Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Leyla Abdullayeva said on August 9.
Commenting on the reports on the resettlement of Lebanese Armenians in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan after the explosion in Lebanon, Abdullayeva said that Armenia seeks to artificially increase the number of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions to change the ethnic and cultural features of the territories and thus to implement the annexation policy.
Noting that the fact of illegal settlement by Armenia have been recorded in the reports of the OSCE fact-finding missions, Abdullayeva said: “Our serious dissatisfaction with Armenia's policy of illegal settlement in the internationally recognized territories of Azerbaijan, as well as Armenia's intention to use the tragedy in Lebanon for its own illegal purposes, has been raised within the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs.”
The spokesperson stressed that these actions of Armenia are a gross violation of international humanitarian law, as well as the 1949 Geneva Convention and its additional Protocols.
“This is not the first time that Armenia has used the situation in the region for its own nefarious purposes, trying to illegally settle the Armenian population in some Middle Eastern countries in the internationally recognized Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions of Azerbaijan,” Abdullayeva said.
The spokesperson emphasized that Armenia must understand that these illegal activities and attempts at artificial settlement will not yield the results it expects.
“The Azerbaijani population of occupied Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas will return to their homes and property, and the occupying Armenia will be held accountable for all its illegal actions.”
“Our demand to put an end to Armenia's purposeful settlement policy in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan will continue to be firmly raised before the international community,” she concluded.
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Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97
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