NKR AUTHORITIES REPORTED TO SUPPORT SETTLERS IN SOME REGIONS
CONTROLLED BY NKR ARMY

YEREVAN, MARCH 18. ARMINFO. The OSCE Minsk Group Fact-Finding Mission
(FFM) to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan surrounding Nagorno
Karabakh (NK) says that it has found evidence of the presence of
settlers in the above territories and the NK authorities are the
primary responsible party in questions regarding support of settlement
activity.

The mission did not determine that such settlement resulted from a
deliberate policy by the Government of Armenia. There was evidence of
various degrees of support by the authorities of NK to settlers in
some regions.

The co-chairs have not assessed the degree to which there is
coordination between the NK authorities and the government of
Armenia. The NK authorities stated to the co-chairs at the outset of
the mission that they did indeed encourage settlements in Lachin, The
co-chairs note that Lachin has been treated as a separate case in
previous negotiations.

The FFM notes that it was not a census-taking team and its
observations cannot be seen as an exhaustive and statistically
accurate picture of the current situation in the occupied
territories., However the co-chairs believe that the FFM’s findings
closely reflect the situation in these areas.

The conclusions are as follows: the mission was a positive achievement
made possible by the compromise agreed by the parties to the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict.

There is little disagreement between the sides on the number of
settlers in the occupied territories and the nature of the
settlements. The FFM’s findings are broadly consistent with
information provided by the sides. The areas of disagreement between
the sides are the question of government sponsorship and the places
from which the settlers come.

The areas in question have undergone complete destruction. Therefore
all settlers arriving in these areas have had to construct basic
shelter, there being virtually no undamaged structures surviving the
conflict and its consequences.

It is apparent that any settlement allowing the return of internally
displaced persons and refugees must be preceded and accompanied by
substantial international assistance for construction of shelter and
infrastructures such as water supply and sanitation, electricity and
agricultural irrigation as well as demining in specific areas and
restoration of transportation links including the completely
dismantled railway in the south formerly connecting Baku, Nakhichevan
and Yerevan.