Azernews.Az

The Armenian government’s ongoing policy aimed at artificial and illegal settlements in Azerbaijan's occupied territories runs counter to international law, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev has said.

A program called Armenia-3500, launched in connection with the 20th anniversary of Armenia's independence, aims to convince 3,500 Armenians living abroad to move to Armenia and Azerbaijan’s occupied Nagorno Karabakh region for permanent residence, Armenian media reported.

"The expulsion of the indigenous Azerbaijani population from their native lands, ethnic cleansing and moving Armenians to these ancestral territories must be condemned by the international community," Abdullayev told the Baku-based Trend news agency Friday. "This is disrespect for international law and all values governing the system of international relations."

The issue of Armenian settlements in Azerbaijan’s occupied territories must be thoroughly discussed in the international arena, Abdullayev said.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman said the OSCE Minsk Group brokering settlement to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict has repeatedly confirmed evidence of Armenians' settling in the occupied territories during its missions seeking to assess the situation there.

"The Armenian leadership's attempts to change the demographic situation in the country unilaterally and by illegal ways substantially harm the negotiation process to resolve the Nagorno Karabakh conflict," he said. "The Armenian leadership thus once again demonstrates its destructive position."

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war in the early 1990s that displaced up to a million Azerbaijanis. About 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory, including Nagorno Karabakh and seven surrounding regions, has been under the occupation of Armenian armed forces since a fragile ceasefire was signed in 1994. Efforts by US, Russian and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.