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AZERBAIJANI ENVOY TO UN CONCERNED OVER SYRIAN ARMENIANS RESETTLEMENT IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Oct 3 2013
3 October 2013, 16:42 (GMT+05:00)
By Sara Rajabova
Head of the Azerbaijani mission to the United Nations expressed concern
by the actions undertaken by Armenia with a view to relocating the
Syrian citizens of Armenian origin in the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan, official website of the mission reported.
Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan to the United Nations
Agshin Mehdiyev said that Syrian crisis has diverse impact, and its
consequences are being experienced in other regions and countries
as well.
"Thus, we continue receiving the reports testifying to purposeful
attempts aimed at encouraging some categories of Syrian citizens to
move to other conflict-affected areas, and even to settle in the
territories under foreign military occupation, from which their
original population was earlier forced to leave," Mehdiyev said.
According to him, needless to say that such actions constitute a
clear violation of international humanitarian law and international
human rights law.
"Of course, I have in mind the actions undertaken by Armenia with
a view to relocating the Syrian citizens of Armenian origin in the
occupied territories of Azerbaijan," Mehdiyev said. "Indeed, while
the international community is focused on searching for ways out of
the Syrian crisis, the suffering facing the people of that country
are being utilized to further complicate the situation and peace
efforts in another region."
He said no doubt, attempts to address the needs of refugees from
Syria at the expense of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijani displaced
persons, living with the hope of returning to their homes, are illegal
and cannot be tolerated nor accepted under any circumstances.
Mehdiyev also added that Azerbaijan from the very beginning has
shared the view of the United Nations Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and other partners on the need for
a greater policy attention to the humanitarian situation in Syria,
particularly with a view to ensuring respect for international
humanitarian law and access by humanitarian actors to those in need
of assistance in Syria.
According to the Armenian government, more than 7,000 Syrian Armenians
have already expressed the desire to relocate to Armenia, Eastbook.eu
portal reported in August.
Armenian government started constructing apartment buildings for
Syrian refugees in May of this year, the same source said.
Azerbaijan has repeatedly expressed serious concerns over the
resettlement of Syrian Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh region of
Azerbaijan occupied by Armenian armed forces.
Earlier, deputy foreign minister Araz Azimov said that Azerbaijan
is not opposed to the placement of Syrian Armenians in other areas,
but is totally against the accommodation of Armenian refugees from
Syria being resettled in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Azimov said he felt that quite different reasons are underlying the
choice to resettle the Syrian refugees in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
For over two decades, Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in
conflict which emerged over Armenia's territorial claims against its
South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory,
including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. A fragile
ceasefire has been in place since 1994, but long-standing efforts by
US, Russian and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four
resolutions on its pullout from the neighboring country's territories.
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Oct 3 2013
3 October 2013, 16:42 (GMT+05:00)
By Sara Rajabova
Head of the Azerbaijani mission to the United Nations expressed concern
by the actions undertaken by Armenia with a view to relocating the
Syrian citizens of Armenian origin in the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan, official website of the mission reported.
Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan to the United Nations
Agshin Mehdiyev said that Syrian crisis has diverse impact, and its
consequences are being experienced in other regions and countries
as well.
"Thus, we continue receiving the reports testifying to purposeful
attempts aimed at encouraging some categories of Syrian citizens to
move to other conflict-affected areas, and even to settle in the
territories under foreign military occupation, from which their
original population was earlier forced to leave," Mehdiyev said.
According to him, needless to say that such actions constitute a
clear violation of international humanitarian law and international
human rights law.
"Of course, I have in mind the actions undertaken by Armenia with
a view to relocating the Syrian citizens of Armenian origin in the
occupied territories of Azerbaijan," Mehdiyev said. "Indeed, while
the international community is focused on searching for ways out of
the Syrian crisis, the suffering facing the people of that country
are being utilized to further complicate the situation and peace
efforts in another region."
He said no doubt, attempts to address the needs of refugees from
Syria at the expense of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijani displaced
persons, living with the hope of returning to their homes, are illegal
and cannot be tolerated nor accepted under any circumstances.
Mehdiyev also added that Azerbaijan from the very beginning has
shared the view of the United Nations Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and other partners on the need for
a greater policy attention to the humanitarian situation in Syria,
particularly with a view to ensuring respect for international
humanitarian law and access by humanitarian actors to those in need
of assistance in Syria.
According to the Armenian government, more than 7,000 Syrian Armenians
have already expressed the desire to relocate to Armenia, Eastbook.eu
portal reported in August.
Armenian government started constructing apartment buildings for
Syrian refugees in May of this year, the same source said.
Azerbaijan has repeatedly expressed serious concerns over the
resettlement of Syrian Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh region of
Azerbaijan occupied by Armenian armed forces.
Earlier, deputy foreign minister Araz Azimov said that Azerbaijan
is not opposed to the placement of Syrian Armenians in other areas,
but is totally against the accommodation of Armenian refugees from
Syria being resettled in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Azimov said he felt that quite different reasons are underlying the
choice to resettle the Syrian refugees in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
For over two decades, Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in
conflict which emerged over Armenia's territorial claims against its
South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory,
including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. A fragile
ceasefire has been in place since 1994, but long-standing efforts by
US, Russian and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four
resolutions on its pullout from the neighboring country's territories.