Azernews.Az

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

Between 150,000 and 170,000 Armenians are leaving their country each year. Meanwhile the natural population growth of the country is dropping year by year. All these are bringing Armenia to a deadlock, Head of Azerbaijan's State Committee on Refugees and IDPs, Ali Hasanov, said on September 24.

He was speaking at a meeting dedicated to a book titled "Nagorno Karabakh: history read through sources" by Academician Ramiz Mehdiyev, Head of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan.

Hasanov added that Armenia has achieved nothing by keeping Azerbaijani territories under occupation over the past 22 years.

He noted that 60-70 percent of Armenians living in the occupied Azerbaijani territories have begun to leave their homes. "Armenian Defense Minister has also confirmed this fact."

Hasanov said international organizations are calling on two sides to take confidence-building measures. "Azerbaijani people have trusted Armenians for hundreds of years," Hasanov stressed.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan.

As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are currently holding peace negotiations over the conflict.

Armenia has not yet implemented four U.N. Security Council resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.

Hasanov also made remarks on the IDPs settled around the Ganli Gol in Baku, while touching upon the state policy for improving the social conditions of the refugees and IDPs.

He said the people living in the territory of the lake would be relocated.

"A building was built for the IDPs behind the Lider TV channel. The relocation will be carried out in a way that there will be no dissatisfaction among people", committee head said.