Azernews.Az

BAKU – Azerbaijan has provided its feedback to the UN regarding a Field Assessment Mission to the Armenia-occupied territories conducted last October by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs mediating talks on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, according to the UN press center.

A letter sent by Azerbaijan’s Ambassador Agshin Mehdiyev to the UN Secretary-General was distributed among the organization’s member offices.

The co-chairs - Bernard Fassier of France, Robert Bradtke of the United States, and Igor Popov of Russia – carried out a Field Assessment Mission in the seven occupied Azerbaijani regions surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh in October 2010 upon Baku’s request. Three technical experts, including two from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), assisted them in their tasks. The OSCE mediators issued a report concerning their mission on March 24.

"The mission revealed once again the continuation of the policy of illegal settlement by the ethnic Armenians in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan as well as infrastructure changes and economic activities conducted in these territories in violation of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, and its additional protocols, to which Armenia has been a party since 1993," Ambassador Mehdiyev wrote in his letter.

"According to the visual appraisal and information provided by the locals, the number of illegal Armenian settlers in the occupied seven districts of Azerbaijan is roughly estimated by the Mission to be 14,000 persons. Some of these settlers live in rehabilitated or newly constructed housing," it says.

"According to the observations of the Mission, a number of administrative, educational and medical buildings visited by the Mission in the occupied territories were constructed and equipped with the outside financial support of Armenian Diaspora," the ambassador noted adding that with regard to infrastructure changes, the Mission’s assessment finds that efforts have been made to develop infrastructure, especially to supply electricity and drinking water.

"All except the most remote settlements visited by the Mission were supplied with electricity. In the Sabukhchai river valley north of Lachin city, a 2.2 MW hydroelectric power station was observed. It is part of a plan to construct 25 such microhydroelectric stations. Several settlements feature small gas pipelines to provide heating, which residents noted had been installed within the past five years. In contrast to 2005, mobile phone connectivity is possible in most regions visited by the Mission. It has also been observed by the Mission that the administrative boundaries of the occupied territories have been extensively redrawn. This redrawing of the boundaries has involved both the renaming of some districts and the reassigning of lands that were in the occupied territories."

Furthermore, the letter mentions that, Armenians change the historical names of Azerbaijani sites and settlements, applying their names to them.

"Thus, the name of the city of Agdam, which had as many as 70,000 inhabitants prior to the conflict, is not even mentioned in the Armenian maps or road signs. A matter of specific concern is the Mission’s conclusion that the potential for future returns by those currently displaced in other parts of Azerbaijan is greatly complicated not only by the continued occupation of the territories but also by the ruined state of these regions. Nearly all private and commercial property of former inhabitants has been destroyed," the Ambassador points out.

"The regions do not offer conditions suitable for return", he adds. "Any significant return of the original population would have to be preceded by the large-scale rebuilding of housing and basic infrastructure."

The Mission’s findings reconfirmed the validity of the concern of Azerbaijan over the continuation of illegal activities in its occupied territories.

"Its observations confirmed once again the attempts of Armenia to consolidate the current status quo of the occupation, which violate fundamental norms and principles, in particular the principle of the non-use of force. These findings and observations were noted by the Co-Chairs in 2005, when they appealed in their recommendations that "any further settlement of the occupied territories should be discouraged" and "prolonged continuation of this situation could lead to a fait accompli that would seriously complicate the peace process," the letter says.

"The Co-Chairs express the same concern and repeat the same appeal in their current recommendations. Alas, over the past six years Armenia has not followed the Co-Chairs’ appeal, continuing to disregard the principles of the conflict settlement. Azerbaijan draws attention to the major statement of the Mission that the status quo in the occupied territories is unacceptable and urges Armenia to put an end to its continuing illegal practices in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan wants to make it clear that the continuous policy of Armenia in this direction shall not be tolerated," he mentions. "The presence of illegal settlers in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan hampers the ongoing negotiations and seriously undermines the prospects of achieving a lasting solution to the conflict. That is why this problem needs to be addressed in a prompt and proper manner. A durable solution to the conflict can be achieved only through the return of all the forcibly expelled Azerbaijani population from the occupied territories to its places of origin."

According to the letter, the current situation in the occupied territories cannot be presented as any kind of pretext for any delay in the withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from these territories and their rehabilitation.

"Azerbaijan supports the Co-Chairs’ appeal to avoid any activities in the occupied territories that would change the demographic, social or cultural character of areas affected by the conflict (such as continued illegal settlement, infrastructure developments, economic exploitation, cultural changes, etc.), or that would make it impossible to reverse the status quo and achieve a peaceful settlement."

The Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 due to Armenia’s territorial claims. Azerbaijan and Armenia waged a brutal war which claimed some 30,000 lives and displaced about a million Azerbaijanis. About 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory has been under the occupation of the Armenian armed forces since a ceasefire was signed in 1994. Peace talks have been largely fruitless so far. Baku says the occupied districts must be freed and Azerbaijani refugees returned home, and only after that could the region’s status be determined within Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, while Armenia insists that self-determination is the core principle for a settlement of the dispute. The mediators are seeking a solution based simultaneously on both principles.