Azernews.Az

YEREVAN – Ethnic Armenian families from Syria are being settled in Zangilan, an Azerbaijani region under Armenian occupation, Radio Liberty’s Armenian service reported.

Armenia has occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory since a war in the early 1990s and Azerbaijani officials have repeatedly condemned Yerevan’s policy of illegal settlements in the occupied lands.

The Armenian government has reportedly pledged assistance to the new settlers, but the families that have moved to Zangilan say they have not received it so far. Nonetheless, the new residents are happy with their living standards, saying they do not regret having settled in the region, which has mild climate and prolific land.

Armenian armed forces invaded the Zangilan region in October 1993. Prior to the invasion, the region had a population of 35,000 people, who further temporarily settled in dormitories in the capital Baku and a number of other Azerbaijani regions.

According to the Azerbaijani government, about 200 Zangilan residents were killed during the war with Armenia, 50 people went missing, and the region sustained damage worth some $1.4 billion in the aftermath of the Armenian occupation.