Azernews.Az

By Rashid Shirinov

Substantive and result oriented talks together with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs on the settlement of Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be continued after the elections in both countries, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said on February 27.

He made the remarks at the meeting with UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi within his working visit to the United Nations Office in Geneva.

The minister provided detailed information on the current status of the negotiations on resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Mammadyarov emphasized that in order to change the status quo of occupation, the Armenian armed forces must be withdrawn from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan in accordance with the demands of relevant resolutions of UN Security Council.

He touched on the fact of illegal settlement of ethnic Armenian refugees from Syria into the occupied territories of Azerbaijan by Armenia and stressed the importance of serious attention by the international institutions and international community to this issue.

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.

Mammadyarov said that Azerbaijan highly appreciates the humanitarian assistance provided by the UNHCR to the refugees and internally displaced persons of the country, as well as the current level of cooperation with the organization.

The minister further briefed Grandi about the reconstruction works carried out in Jojug Marjanli village after its liberation from the Armenian occupation as well as the measures taken for the return of IDPs in safety. He stressed that Azerbaijan will further continue efforts to improve the living conditions of the refugees and IDPs.

Due to the ethnic cleansing policy, which was carried out by Armenia, and the Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions of Azerbaijan, the number of refugees and internally displaced persons in Azerbaijan hit more than 1 million. With a population of over 9.8 million, Azerbaijan is among the countries carrying the highest IDP caseload in the world in per capita terms.

Grandi, in turn, expressed his satisfaction with the cooperation between the UNHCR and Azerbaijan and highly appreciated voluntary donations of Azerbaijan to the organization.

The sides also exchanged views on prospects of cooperation between the UNHCR and Azerbaijan and the current issues on the agenda.

Mammadyarov also met with Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), on the same day.

The sides expressed satisfaction with the development of the cooperation over more than 20 years and exchanged views on the works carried out and prospects of development of relations. In this regard, Mammadyarov highly appreciated the assistance and support rendered by ICRC to Azerbaijan and pointed out that the organization remains a key international humanitarian partner for the country.

The minister also touched upon the humanitarian aspects of the Armenia’s military aggression against Azerbaijan and highlighted the importance of the release of Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev, illegally taken hostage by Armenian armed forces while visiting their native lands in July, 2014.

Mammadyarov mentioned that Armenia, by changing the demographic situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and thus providing illegal settlement of ethnic Armenian refugees from Syria and carrying out illegal economic and other activities, blatantly violates its commitments under the international humanitarian law, particularly Geneva Conventions.

During the meeting, the sides also pointed out the humanitarian activities carried out by the ICRC along the contact line zone, and DNA sample collection of the missing people as a result of the conflict was praised. The sides emphasized the necessity of continuing such efforts within the effective mutual cooperation and exchanged views on the future perspectives of relations between Azerbaijan and ICRC.

The ICRC has been present in the region since 1992 in relation to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Through the delegations in Baku and Yerevan and the mission in Nagorno-Karabakh, the ICRC supports communities living along the line of contact and international border between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

In addition, the ICRC works to clarify the fate of missing persons and help their families, visits detainees and acts as a neutral intermediary to facilitate transfer and repatriation of persons released on both sides of the border and line of the contact.

---

Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz