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INTERNATIONAL DAY OF REFUGEES: THOUSANDS WHO FLED AZERBAIJAN STILL ENDURE REFUGEE STATUS/CONDITIONS IN ARMENIA
http://www.armenianow.com/society/47077/azeri_armenian_refugees_armavir_gegharkunik_ararat
SOCIETY | 20.06.13 | 17:38
Photolure
By Gohar Abrahamian
ArmeniaNow reporter
Hundreds of thousands of refugees displaced from Azerbaijan during the
ethnic purges there in late 1980s-early 1990s and settled in Armenia
still face multiple challenges hindering their full integration
in Armenia.
Refugee Grigory Ayvazyan, leading the Assembly of Azerbaijani Armenians
NGO, told the press on Thursday, International Day of Refugees, that
so far as the Karabakh issue remains unresolved, the refugee issues
cannot be solved either.
"In the logics of the negotiation process there is the provision on
return of refugees, like it or not, however the Azeri side is trying to
push the return of the Azeri refugees only, while the issue has to be
of mutual character, either all can go back, or none," says Ayvazyan,
adding that they are ready to return to their former settlements,
even to Baku and Sumgait (where the bloodiest pogroms occurred),
if given respective safety guarantees.
During 1988-1991, by various sources, around 450,000-700,000 people
were displaced, the majority of whom lost their property and almost
all belongings.
According to Ayvazyan, today the refugees from Azerbaijan make ten
percent of Armenia's population, and reside mostly in Ararat, Armavir
and Gegharkunk provinces, in the settlements formerly occupied by
Azerbaijani residents of Armenia. However, he says, they mostly live
in hostel-type buildings void of basic living conditions.
Ayvazyan also says that the refugees are not at all integrated in
the Armenian society, great majority does not have citizenship of
Armenia, only residency permits. But, he believes, they should not
become citizens, in which case they would become the internal matter
of the Republic of Armenia and stop being part of the negotiations
process (the fact that they are is in Armenia's interest).
Although the refugees have been offered settlement in the disputed
regions of Nagorno Karabakh, Ayvazyan says those lands cannot be
offered as compensation to the Armenian refugees, because they demand
compensation from the Republic of Azerbaijan.
"The liberated lands are not the property of Azerbaijan and
belong to Nagorno Karabakh and its people, that is why we cannot
demand compensation from Nagorno Karabakh for the damage caused by
Azerbaijan," he says.
http://www.armenianow.com/society/47077/azeri_armenian_refugees_armavir_gegharkunik_ararat
SOCIETY | 20.06.13 | 17:38
Photolure
By Gohar Abrahamian
ArmeniaNow reporter
Hundreds of thousands of refugees displaced from Azerbaijan during the
ethnic purges there in late 1980s-early 1990s and settled in Armenia
still face multiple challenges hindering their full integration
in Armenia.
Refugee Grigory Ayvazyan, leading the Assembly of Azerbaijani Armenians
NGO, told the press on Thursday, International Day of Refugees, that
so far as the Karabakh issue remains unresolved, the refugee issues
cannot be solved either.
"In the logics of the negotiation process there is the provision on
return of refugees, like it or not, however the Azeri side is trying to
push the return of the Azeri refugees only, while the issue has to be
of mutual character, either all can go back, or none," says Ayvazyan,
adding that they are ready to return to their former settlements,
even to Baku and Sumgait (where the bloodiest pogroms occurred),
if given respective safety guarantees.
During 1988-1991, by various sources, around 450,000-700,000 people
were displaced, the majority of whom lost their property and almost
all belongings.
According to Ayvazyan, today the refugees from Azerbaijan make ten
percent of Armenia's population, and reside mostly in Ararat, Armavir
and Gegharkunk provinces, in the settlements formerly occupied by
Azerbaijani residents of Armenia. However, he says, they mostly live
in hostel-type buildings void of basic living conditions.
Ayvazyan also says that the refugees are not at all integrated in
the Armenian society, great majority does not have citizenship of
Armenia, only residency permits. But, he believes, they should not
become citizens, in which case they would become the internal matter
of the Republic of Armenia and stop being part of the negotiations
process (the fact that they are is in Armenia's interest).
Although the refugees have been offered settlement in the disputed
regions of Nagorno Karabakh, Ayvazyan says those lands cannot be
offered as compensation to the Armenian refugees, because they demand
compensation from the Republic of Azerbaijan.
"The liberated lands are not the property of Azerbaijan and
belong to Nagorno Karabakh and its people, that is why we cannot
demand compensation from Nagorno Karabakh for the damage caused by
Azerbaijan," he says.