NO RE-SETTLEMENT IN KARABAKH CARRIED OUT
By Tatoul Hakobian

AZG Armenian Daily #183
12/10/2005

Demographic Situation Disturbing

Azat Artsakh newspaper of Stepanakert published demographic situation
in Nagorno Karabakh for January-September of 2005. In the period of
8 months 1525 children were born in Nagorno Karabakh against the 1619
for the last year. The natality for the given period was 458 people,
67 people or 10.9 percent decrease compared with 2004. Official
figures for newcomers in January-September of 2005 were 677 and 627
for emigrants. The mechanical growth was only 50 people.

The Armenian historiography and press wrote numerous times about
Baku’s partiality in regard to demographic policy. It is already
10 years that Karabakh is out of Baku’s control and logically the
Azerbaijani authorities are not responsible for demographic situation
in the region. Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh are the only ones to hold
responsible today.

According to population census in 1989, the population of Nagorno
Karabakh was 189.085, 145.500 of which were Armenians, 40.700 Azeris
(Baku still claims that the Azeri population of Karabakh amounted
to 46.347) and the rest were people of other nationalities. On the
threshold of referendum in Nagorno Karabakh, the authorities present
their approximate figures – 145.000, i.e. as many as in 1989. The
international organizations functioning in Karabakh think this figures
exaggerated and bring their own – 100.000.

Even if the figures Stepanakert presents are real, there is no
re-settlement going on in Karabakh and surrounding territories. In
effect, population density in Karabakh is lower than in any province
of Armenia. Meanwhile natural and agricultural conditions in Karabakh
are not more tolerable than the republican average.