Foreign Ministry issues statement on OSCE fact-finding mission’s report

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
March 23 2005

Baku, March 22, AssA-Irada

The Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Tuesday on the monitoring
held by the OSCE fact-finding mission in the occupied regions of
Azerbaijan. The mission has confirmed the fact of illegal settlement
of Armenians in the occupied territories, it said.

“The OSCE fact-finding mission prepared the report based on the
evidence provided by the Azerbaijani side, as well as the facts
discovered during the monitoring. The number of the settled residents
determined by the mission, mainly by means of visual assessment,
nearly matches the figure provided by Azerbaijan.”

According to the data presented by Azerbaijan, 20,000 to 23,000
Armenians have been settled in the occupied lands. The figure stands
at over 17,000 in the mission’s report. The data on the organized
settlement in Lachin, confirmed by the fact-finding mission, raise
serious concerns, as Armenians had not lived in this region before.
Azerbaijan says that 13,000 people have been settled in the Lachin
District. However, the figure indicated in the report is between
8,000 and 11,000.

The statement further reads that although the fact-finding mission
does not provide a direct answer to the question about the planned
settlements in the occupied regions, there is plenty of evidence in
its report and materials forwarded by Azerbaijan, as well as in top
Armenian officials’ statements, confirming Armenia’s support for the
settlement process.

The document says that the coordination of activity between Armenia
and its separatist regime in Upper Garabagh, which the mission did
not include in the report, is beyond a doubt.

If the mission did not find evidence on Armenia’s involvement in
the settlement process, this means that Armenia has carried out this
activity through separatists of Upper Garabagh.

The statement further reads that the attempts to provide evidence on
non-involvement of Armenia in the settlement process are groundless.
In accordance with the international law, Armenia, as an aggressor,
bears all the responsibility for any activity, including the settlement
of Armenians in the occupied lands.

The OSCE fact-finding mission held monitoring in the occupied
Azerbaijani regions from January 30 till February 5 after the
discussions of the situation in the occupied regions of Azerbaijan
at the 59th session of the UN General Assembly, held on Azerbaijan’s
initiative.*