Azeri foreign minister accuses Armenia of settling occupied territories

Media-Press news agency
15 Nov 04

BAKU

Baku has the information that the occupied Azerbaijani territories are
being illegally settled by Armenians, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister
Elmar Mammadyarov has told Interfax-Azerbaijan.

“We have exact information about Kalbacar, Lacin, Zangilan and
Cabrayil to which the Armenian side is luring people with loans,
credits and other forms of financial support,” he said.

The minister said that this information has been provided by
operational sources, the mass media and independent sources, namely a
US State Department report. Mammadyarov stressed that in an effort to
attract international attention to this act of lawlessness, Baku has
succeeded in putting the issue of the situation in the occupied
Azerbaijani territories on the UN General Assembly session’s agenda.

“Just imagine us reaching a real outcome in the negotiations with
Armenia and displaced people starting to return to their homes only to
find the Armenian families living there. This represents a potential
for the resumption of the conflict. Therefore, we think that the
discussion of the issue in the UN is extremely important,” the
minister said. He disagreed with Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanyan’s opinion that the discussion of the issue in the UN could
affect the Karabakh peace process and represents an attempt by the
Azerbaijani authorities to take the issue out of the hands of the OSCE
Minsk Group.

“On the contrary, I believe that by putting the issue of the situation
in the occupied Azerbaijani territories on the agenda of a UN General
Assembly session we will facilitate the process of negotiations. We
don’t think the UN discussion can in some way replace the discussion
of the issue by the OSCE Minsk Group. Azerbaijan has repeatedly said
that it wants the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen to be more active,” the
Azerbaijani foreign minister said.

Mammadyarov spoke in favour of resumed negotiations at the level of
foreign ministers “within the framework of the discussions held in
Prague”. The negotiations were suspended on the initiative of the
Armenian side.

“We are ready to meet at any time and in any place within the
so-called ‘Prague process’ because the discussions we held in Prague
gave hope for the possibility of progress in the talks. But on the
other hand, it is difficult to believe in the sincerity of the talks
while the Armenians are settling in the occupied Azerbaijani
territories, including in the areas outside the administrative borders
of Nagornyy Karabakh,” the minister said.

“We expect the Armenian leadership to realize that the settling of the
occupied territories runs counter to all norms of international
humanitarian law and international conventions. There are well-known
1949 Geneva conventions about the law of armed conflicts. Under these
international legal documents, the settling of occupied territories is
prohibited. We think the Armenian administration has to understand
that and start evacuating and resettling the families that moved to
the occupied territories earlier and are living there now,” the
Azerbaijani foreign minister said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress