Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Feb 3 2005

Deputy FM says settlement of Armenians in Garabagh confirmed

Baku, February 2, AssA-Irada
The Azerbaijani side has no official information on the activity of
the OSCE fact-finding mission in Upper Garabagh. However, some
sources indicate that the evidence forwarded to the mission by
Azerbaijan is being confirmed, the Deputy Foreign Minister Araz
Azimov told journalists on Wednesday.
Azimov underlined that settlement of Armenians in the occupied lands
of Azerbaijan is part of Armenia’s state policy and the Armenian
press give a broad coverage to this issue.
`Armenians settled in the occupied lands are encouraged with certain
privileges, as they are granted land plots free of charge, freed from
tax payments and even their children are granted rights to reject
military service,’ the Deputy Foreign Minister said.
Azimov added that `it is impossible not to see the facts’, adding
that the OSCE mission will prepare a report based on these facts.*