PACE to hear issue on deportation of Azerbaijanis in 1950s

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Dec 24 2004

A report prepared by Swiss parliament member Mark Eimens on the
deportation of people and ethnic cleansing will be discussed at the
winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
(PACE).

The report suggests that a Memorial Center for deported people and
ethnic cleansing victims be set up within the Council of Europe. It
also includes an issue on Azerbaijan.

“Azerbaijanis are among those who became victims of deportation in the
former Soviet Union. Under the decision passed by the USSR Council of
Ministers in 1950s, 100,000 Azerbaijanis were deported from Armenia,”
the document said.

The report also covers conflicts in the South Caucasus region, saying
that there are about one million refugees and internally displaced
persons in Azerbaijan.*