AZERBAIJAN ASSESSES DAMAGE INFLICTED TO NAHKCHIVAN BY ARMENIAN OCCUPATION
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Sept 19 2013
19 September 2013, 12:43 (GMT+05:00)
By Sara Rajabova
Azerbaijan is calculating the damage to the Nakhchivan Autonomous
Republic of the country inflicted by Armenia.
A working group engaged in the evaluation of the damage inflicted to
the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, led by Azerbaijani parliament
member, professor Khanhuseyn Kazimli, has started the process of
estimating the damage.
As a result of the Armenian aggression and separatism in the early
1990s, overland communications between the Nakhchivan Autonomous
Republic and the rest of Azerbaijan were completely broken off.
Explosions and destruction on the railroad and terror acts against the
civilian population completely disrupted the railway communication,
which ended with the blockade of Nakhchivan, a statement of the
working group issued on September 18 says.
Due to the blockade deliberately created by Armenia, the Nakhchivan
economy sustains damage amounting to hundreds of millions of manats
every year, the statement said.
"If the railroad had worked so far, then at the present, the freight
transportation could increase two to three-fold compared to the Soviet
times. This would lead to even greater development and prosperity of
Nakhchivan. All the damage inflicted to the economy and cultural life
of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic as a result of the termination
of the overland communications with (the rest of) Azerbaijan for more
than 20 years, as well as the funds allocated throughout these years
from the Azerbaijani budget for NAR's protection, must be paid by
Armenia as compensation," it said.
In addition to having occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory,
Armenia has groundless claims to Nakhchivan, an ancient Azerbaijani
land.
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
Sept 19 2013
19 September 2013, 12:43 (GMT+05:00)
By Sara Rajabova
Azerbaijan is calculating the damage to the Nakhchivan Autonomous
Republic of the country inflicted by Armenia.
A working group engaged in the evaluation of the damage inflicted to
the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, led by Azerbaijani parliament
member, professor Khanhuseyn Kazimli, has started the process of
estimating the damage.
As a result of the Armenian aggression and separatism in the early
1990s, overland communications between the Nakhchivan Autonomous
Republic and the rest of Azerbaijan were completely broken off.
Explosions and destruction on the railroad and terror acts against the
civilian population completely disrupted the railway communication,
which ended with the blockade of Nakhchivan, a statement of the
working group issued on September 18 says.
Due to the blockade deliberately created by Armenia, the Nakhchivan
economy sustains damage amounting to hundreds of millions of manats
every year, the statement said.
"If the railroad had worked so far, then at the present, the freight
transportation could increase two to three-fold compared to the Soviet
times. This would lead to even greater development and prosperity of
Nakhchivan. All the damage inflicted to the economy and cultural life
of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic as a result of the termination
of the overland communications with (the rest of) Azerbaijan for more
than 20 years, as well as the funds allocated throughout these years
from the Azerbaijani budget for NAR's protection, must be paid by
Armenia as compensation," it said.
In addition to having occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory,
Armenia has groundless claims to Nakhchivan, an ancient Azerbaijani
land.
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.