Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
June 21 2008

Azerbaijani Ombudsman Considers Groundless the Accusation by Migration
Service of Armenia
21.06.08 13:43

Azerbaijan, Baku, 21 June/ corr. Trend News I.Alizade / Ombudsman of
Azerbaijan, Elmira Suleymanova, considers groundless the lawsuit on
$5mln which is envisaged to be made by the migration service of
Armenia with regards to Azerbaijan.

`The Armenians residing in Azerbaijan took their key
properties while leaving the Country. They removed, selling their
properties left in Azerbaijan,’ Suleymanova briefed the
media on 21 June in Azerbaijan’s city of Guba.

The migration service of Armenia states that the Armenians leaving
Azerbaijan lost key part of their properties, and as a result, $5mln
material damage was inflicted to them. Due to it, the service plans to
submit a lawsuit against Azerbaijan to the International Court.

Suleymanova said that according to official data, as a result of
military aggression of Armenia, $60bln damage was inflicted to
Azerbaijan.

`As a result of this aggression, the Azerbaijanis incurred
ethnic cleansing, and serious damages were inflicted to the
environment and nature of Azerbaijan. The losses of Azerbaijan as a
result of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are inestimable,’
Suleymanova said.

Nearly 1mln Azerbaijanis incurred ethnic cleansing in Armenia in
1988-1989.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries appeared in 1988
due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenia has
occupied 20% of the Azerbaijani lands including the Nagorno-Karabakh
region and its seven surrounding districts. Since 1992 to the present
time, these territories have been under Armenian occupation. In 1994,
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a cease-fire agreement at which time the
active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (
Russia, France and USA) are holding peaceful negotiations.