‘REFUGEES AND INTERNATIONAL LAW’ CIVIL SOCIETY NETWORK URGES AZERI AUTHORITIES TO COMPENSATE FOR THE DAMAGES CAUSED TO ARMENIA, NAGORNO-KARABAKH AND ARMENIANS OF AZERBAIJAN

ArmInfo
2010-01-12 17:05:00

ArmInfo. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the genocide
committed by the Azeri authorities and criminal elements against the
Armenians of Baku, the "Refugees and International Law" civil society
network has appeared with an address to the authorities of Armenia
and Nagorno-Karabakh and the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group.

The address says: "Since 1988, availing itself of the connivance of
the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs and the unprincipled policy of the
Armenian and Nagorno-Karabakh authorities, Azerbaijan has managed to
distort the essence of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. As a result,
presently, the negotiating process condemns the Nagorno-Karabakh
Armenians for exercising natural right to defend themselves from
Azerbaijan’s military aggression instead of condemning Azerbaijan
for attempting to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh problem by force.

"We demand that during all negotiations and unofficial meetings
concerning the Nagorno-Karabakh problem representatives of the
Armenian and Nagorno-Karabakh authorities appear with the following
position: the main cause of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem is the
annexation of Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani SSR in 1920-1921 and
the disciminatory and repressive policy of the Azeri authorities
with respect to the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh in
the following years. This treatment forced the Nagorno-Karabakh
Armenians to proclaim their self-determination on Feb 20 1988. The
Azeri authorities responded with a genocide in Sumqayit and ethnic
cleansing all over Azerbaijani SSR. As a result, by Jan 19 1990
over half million of Armenians had been expelled from Azerbaijan
and had become refugees. In 1991 Azerbaijan unleashed a war against
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Hundreds of thousands of Armenians and
Azeris were forced to leave their homes. Azerbaijan lost the war. The
aspiration of the Azeri authorities to solve the political problem of
Nagorno-Karabakh by force had tragic consequences: tens of thousands
of people were killed and over 1,200,000 people became refugees and
internally displaced persons."

"In this light, we urge the Armenians authorities to consider the
following facts: today, the Nagorno-Karabakh problem is no longer
just a matter of NKR’s international recognition; violence against
Armenians was applied not only in the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh (as
the Armenian FM says) but all over Azerbaijan; the Azeri authorities
must compensate for the damages caused to Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh
and Armenians of Azerbaijan as a result of ethnic cleansing and war."