AZERBAIJAN POINTS TO ILLEGAL ARMENIAN SETTLEMENTS

AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
July 6 2006

Azerbaijani MPs have submitted a document condemning the illegal
settlement of Armenians in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan to
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

The report, co-signed by over 30 parliament members, was prepared by
Ganira Pashayeva, a member of the Azeri delegation at the Assembly.

Armenia, which ignores the four UN Security Council resolutions on the
unconditional withdrawal of its armed forces and the PACE resolution
on liberation of Azerbaijani lands and return of refugees to their
homes, jeopardizes the ongoing talks between the two presidents,
the document said.

"This policy runs counter to international legal norms and the
mentioned documents. Armenia tries to assert the status-quo in the
occupied territories and hinder the return of Azeri IDPs home by
increasing the number of Armenian-populated settlements in these
areas."

The document reads that according to official figures, in 1989,
there were 145,450 Armenians in Upper Garabagh. Yerevan is pursuing
a purposeful policy aimed at bringing the figure to 300,000 by 2010,
it says.

"According to Armenian and other sources, 23,000 Armenians have
been settled in the occupied Upper Garabagh region and seven adjacent
districts, including 13,000 in Lachin, 700 in Kalbajar, 520 in Zangilan
and 280 in Jabrayil over the past few years. The population of these
districts comprised only Azerbaijanis before their occupation by the
Armenian armed forces."

The document reads that separatists in Armenia and Garabagh forced
Azeris to leave their homes and pursued a policy of ethnic cleansing
in the occupied territories. Hundreds of ethnic Armenian families
from Armenia and other countries were settled in the occupied Aghdam,
Fuzuli and other districts.