Azernews.Az

Azerbaijan raised the issue of illegality of resettling Syrian Armenians in the Nagorno-Karabakh region occupied by Armenia before international organizations and OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries after Armenian media reports to that end, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry told Trend news agency on Monday.

The illegality of settlements in Azerbaijan's historical territories was also mentioned in earlier reports of the OSCE and Minsk Group -- which is brokering settlement to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the ministry said.

"Prime minister" of the separatist regime in the occupied Nagorno Karabakh region, Ara Harutyunyan, has reportedly said addressing Armenian youths, "Nagorno-Karabakh is ready to accept Syrian Armenians, provide them an opportunity to study in Artsakh [the word used by Armenians for Karabakh] free of charge, as well as provide them with accommodation."

The Nagorno Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia leveled territorial claims against Azerbaijan. The two countries fought a lengthy war that displaced about one million Azerbaijanis. Since the fragile ceasefire accord signed in 1994, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, in defiance of international law. Peace talks, brokered by the United States, Russia and France through the Minsk Group, have been largely fruitless so far.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on its pullout from Nagorno Karabakh and the seven surrounding regions.