Azernews.Az

Representatives of the Azerbaijani community of Armenian-occupied Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh held their first congress in Baku on Friday.
During the event, the organization, previously called Public Union of the Azerbaijani Community of Upper Garabagh, was renamed Public Union of the Azerbaijani Community of the Azerbaijan Republic`s Upper Garabagh Region.
Participants adopted new bylaws for the community. Also, a 22-person steering board for the union was established, and Bayram Safarov, head of the Shusha city executive authority, was elected as its chairman. He was the only candidate for the chairmanship and received unanimous approval by the congress participants.
All but six of the 350 members of the congress attended the first such gathering of the community, which was established in 1992.
Speakers said that the Azerbaijani community of Upper Garabagh should be recognized as a body with official status in the world and its activities expanded. Moreover, branches of the organization should be set up abroad and its relations with international groups broadened.
A row flared up at the congress, as well. MP Sabir Rustamkhanly protested that the state anthem was not played at the opening ceremony.
"This is the first-ever congress since Garabagh was invaded [by Armenia]. Therefore, the state anthem should be played and the memories of those who fell during the war honored," Rustamkhanly said, and left the room.
Speaking to journalists afterwards, he said it would have been better if the congress had been held not in one of the splendid palaces of Baku, but either in the areas of Upper Garabagh that are not occupied or in the territories already freed from the Armenian invasion.
Upper Garabagh is an Azerbaijani region occupied by Armenia since a 1994 cease-fire ended separatist hostilities that killed an estimated 30,000 people and ousted about one million Azerbaijanis from their homes. Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh and seven other Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law. Years of peace talks have brought few tangible results.

Foreign companies blamed
for illegal ops
Azerbaijanis of Upper Garabagh have repeatedly appealed to the embassies and other diplomatic missions of the countries whose companies are illegally operating in the invaded territories, the head of the Shusha executive authority told the congress. Safarov recalled that, in April 2007, Armenian media reported that the US SEMA Associates company had drafted a general plan of the historic Azerbaijani town of Shusha located in Garabagh. Afterwards, the Azerbaijani community expressed its objections to the US embassy in Baku and the OSCE Minsk Group, a team of diplomats brokering settlement to the Garabagh conflict, demanding an end to the illegal activities. Despite the efforts, however, Azerbaijan has not yet received unequivocal assurances that the illicit work on the general plan of the town has been thwarted.
SEMA Associates, believed to be based in Irvine, California, is engaged in drafting plans and projects. One of the company`s executives is reportedly Seda Yagubian, an Armenian.
Safarov noted that drawing foreign companies to operate in occupied Azerbaijani territories has been made possible due to the efforts and an invitation by the Armenian side. "But those companies must comply with international norms and cannot operate in another country`s occupied lands without permission. This means an outright trampling on the principle of the territorial integrity and inviolability of Azerbaijan by representatives of those states, and such instances are inadmissible."
Of note, some foreign companies working in tourism and other fields have repeatedly displayed on their websites the Upper Garabagh region and other occupied territories of Azerbaijan as Armenian territory. Besides, there are some foreign organizations that are spreading completely false information regarding Azerbaijani history and making fake maps. For instance, Ukraine`s Saga company, Russia`s Flag Studies and Heraldry Center and Free Travelers Academy, and the Belarusian Velcom GSM are included among those organizations.