Armenpress

AZERBAIJAN RESETTLES SHAHUMYAN REGION WITH REFUGEES

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 23, ARMENPRESS: Edik Balayan,
chairman of an organization uniting former residents
of Shahumyan region in Nagorno-Karabakh, now under
Azerbaijan’s occupation, announced Thursday he has
obtained copies of documents, which attest to an
Azerbaijani plan to resettle the region with Azeri
refugees.
Balayan said he had obtained copies of an Azeri
government decision and a decree signed by the
government of this covert plan. The documents clearly
delegate responsibilities to various Azeri ministries
and government organizations to steer the plan.
Based on the documents, since 2002, the Azeri
government has been constructing 140 residences a year
in the area, especially in the urban parts of the
region. The plan calls for resettling 30,000 to 35,000
Azeris in Shahumyan, which was once home to 21,000
Armenians who were either massacred or forcibly
evacuated from the region during the Nagorno-Karabakh
movement.
Balayan also revealed that the government was
pledging a monthly stipend of 25,000 manats ($4,500)
to settlers, adding that such incentives were
necessary since many people would not move there. The
Shahumyan-Getashen region was one of the focal points
of the Karabakh liberation movement. From 1991-1992
the Azeri OMON (special police force) units forced out
the 20,000 Armenians living in the region through
massacres and deportations.
Balayan announced that his organization has
appealed to the European Court of Human Rights by
presenting a law suit by four families that were
deported from the Shahumyan-Getashen region.
He said that the court has decided to hear the case
and has sent the necessary documentation to the Azeri
government. The Armenian side has also appealed to the
OSCE to send observers to the Shahumyan, Getashen and
Martunashen regions to compile a report on the
deportations, but no action has been taken on that
front.