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OSCE report: Settlement of Armenians in territories seized during
Nagorno-Karabakh war should stop
AP Worldstream
Mar 17, 2005
MIKE ECKEL
Armenia and authorities in the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh
should discourage any more Armenians from settling in territories
seized during a brutal war with Azerbaijan, top European security and
democracy organization said Thursday.
Azerbaijan has accused both Armenian and Nagorno-Karabakh officials of
illegally resettling refugees and other Armenians displaced during the
bitter six-year war in the lands surrounding the mountainous enclave,
which is located within Azerbaijan.
The issue is one of several that have stoked already hostile tensions
between Armenia and Azerbaijan and complicated efforts by the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and others to
reach a final peace deal over the enclave's status. A tense cease-fire
has held since 1994, despite frequent small-scale violations.
The report released Thursday by the heads of OSCE's Minsk Group, which
is seeking to help resolve the conflict, said Armenians were indeed
settling in territories outside of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Minsk Group investigators who traveled to the region last month found
no deliberate policy by Armenia to settle refugees in the territories,
the report said, but noted that Nagorno-Karabakh authorities were
actively supporting the resettlement, particularly in the Lachin
region separating the enclave from Armenia.
The report did not call for removing the settlers, though it noted
that most were refugees who wanted to return to their homes.
Nearly 1 million Armenians and Azerbaijanis were displaced or driven
from their homes before the cease-fire deal was reached in 1994,
ending the fighting that killed more than 30,000 people and left the
enclave under the control of ethnic Armenians.
The mission heads "request that any further settlement of the occupied
territories of Azerbaijan should be discouraged," the report said.
Both Armenian and Nagorno-Karabakh authorities have said under no
condition would the Lachin region be returned to Azerbaijani control
since it would then cut the enclave off from Armenia proper.
Nagorno-Karabakh's political status has not been determined, and
shooting breaks out frequently between the two sides, which face off
across a demilitarized buffer zone.
A statement from the Armenian Foreign Ministry welcomed the report and
called on the OSCE to send an identical fact-finding mission to
territory under control of Azerbaijani forces. There was no official
reaction from the Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry, though Deputy Foreign
Minister Araz Azimov earlier this month claimed the mission had
"determined and confirmed the resettlements."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Nagorno-Karabakh war should stop
AP Worldstream
Mar 17, 2005
MIKE ECKEL
Armenia and authorities in the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh
should discourage any more Armenians from settling in territories
seized during a brutal war with Azerbaijan, top European security and
democracy organization said Thursday.
Azerbaijan has accused both Armenian and Nagorno-Karabakh officials of
illegally resettling refugees and other Armenians displaced during the
bitter six-year war in the lands surrounding the mountainous enclave,
which is located within Azerbaijan.
The issue is one of several that have stoked already hostile tensions
between Armenia and Azerbaijan and complicated efforts by the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and others to
reach a final peace deal over the enclave's status. A tense cease-fire
has held since 1994, despite frequent small-scale violations.
The report released Thursday by the heads of OSCE's Minsk Group, which
is seeking to help resolve the conflict, said Armenians were indeed
settling in territories outside of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Minsk Group investigators who traveled to the region last month found
no deliberate policy by Armenia to settle refugees in the territories,
the report said, but noted that Nagorno-Karabakh authorities were
actively supporting the resettlement, particularly in the Lachin
region separating the enclave from Armenia.
The report did not call for removing the settlers, though it noted
that most were refugees who wanted to return to their homes.
Nearly 1 million Armenians and Azerbaijanis were displaced or driven
from their homes before the cease-fire deal was reached in 1994,
ending the fighting that killed more than 30,000 people and left the
enclave under the control of ethnic Armenians.
The mission heads "request that any further settlement of the occupied
territories of Azerbaijan should be discouraged," the report said.
Both Armenian and Nagorno-Karabakh authorities have said under no
condition would the Lachin region be returned to Azerbaijani control
since it would then cut the enclave off from Armenia proper.
Nagorno-Karabakh's political status has not been determined, and
shooting breaks out frequently between the two sides, which face off
across a demilitarized buffer zone.
A statement from the Armenian Foreign Ministry welcomed the report and
called on the OSCE to send an identical fact-finding mission to
territory under control of Azerbaijani forces. There was no official
reaction from the Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry, though Deputy Foreign
Minister Araz Azimov earlier this month claimed the mission had
"determined and confirmed the resettlements."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress