Belgian MPs visit Aghdam

Members of an Azerbaijan-Belgium interparliamentary working group have visited Aghdam region as part of their Azerbaijan trip. Accompanied by Azerbaijani MP Ganira Pashayeva, they first visited Aghdam`s government headquarters.

Governor Nizami Sadygov told the Belgian MPs of Armenia`s military aggression against Azerbaijan, saying it saw over million Azerbaijanis become refugees and IDPs. “As a result of Armenia`s aggression 20 per cent of Azerbaijan`s lands, including 73.4 per cent of the total area of Aghdam have been under occupation.”

He added: “140,000 people out of the total of 180,000 Aghdam population became IDPs.”
Sadygov praised the Azerbaijani government`s efforts to improve the living conditions of refugees and IDPs. “In Aghdam alone 17 districts for IDPs were built. Currently the region`s population is 90,000 people, including over 50,000 IDPs.”

He also expressed regret over the international community`s “double-standard approach to this issue”. Pashayeva said the Armenian armed forces had been repeatedly violating a ceasefire with Azerbaijan.

“A 9-year-old boy was killed by an Armenian sniper in Aghdam last year. The Armenians have been continuously violating the ceasefire,” she said. Following the meeting the Belgian MPs visited a secondary school in an IDP-district in Guzanly village. The parliamentarians also visited the house of a local IDP.

Chairman of the Azerbaijan-Belgium interparliamentary friendship group, Philippe Blanchart, told journalists they visited Azerbaijan to familiarize themselves with the country`s problem of refugees and IDPs.

Blanchart stressed the importance of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict-related resolutions adopted by international organizations. He said they supported the United Nations` and Council of Europe`s position on the conflict.


/AzerTAc/