Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

After return of the Armenian-occupied territories of Azerbaijan and the displaced persons' comeback to their native land, the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh will become full-fledged citizens of Azerbaijan, chairman of the Azerbaijani State Committee for Work with Diaspora Nazim Ibrahimov has said.

At a press conference on the results of a high-level meeting of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center and the Club of Madrid, Ibrahimov said that for this to be possible, first of all, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be resolved.

"We are witnessing the creation in Azerbaijan of a society which many countries would like to create," the Committee head said.

According to Ibrahimov, along with other issues, political conflicts, including the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute, were discussed in the framework of the mentioned meeting.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the early 1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.

"Azerbaijan is ready to grant Nagorno-Karabakh the highest level of autonomy that exists in the world. This even caused a surprise of the guests who gathered at the event. What else can the Armenians expect?" Ibrahimov said.

The Nizami Ganjavi International Center (NGIC) and the Club de Madrid have held a High Level Preparatory Meeting for the "Shared Societies Forum 2014", which will take place in Baku next year. The event, supported by the State Committee for Work with Diaspora, is attended by former heads of state and government of Latvia, Finland, the Netherlands, Sri Lanka and officials of influential international organizations.

The two-day meeting debated preparations for the forthcoming Forum and also discussed settlement of the conflicts in the South Caucasus, close involvement of women in social life, intercultural and interfaith dialogue, and other issues.