'Karabakh conflict caused damage to Azerbaijan's economy'

An Azerbaijani delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of the State Committee for Refugees and IDPs Ali Hasanov is in Brussels at the invitation of the Belgian MP and head of the Belgium-Azerbaijan working group on interparliamentary relations Philippe Blanchard.

On March 6, the Federal Parliament of Belgium held hearing on "occupied territory, forgotten territory - humanitarian and legal aspects of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict".

The event brought together members of the Azerbaijan-Belgium interparliamentary friendship groups, Belgian MPs, experts and representatives of NGOs. The meeting was opened by head of the Belgium-Azerbaijan working group on interparliamentary relations Philippe Blanchard.
Then participants of the event watched a video reportage titled "Nagorno Karabakh: a visit to a refugee", prepared by Euronews TV channel journalists in 2011.

Addressing the meeting, Deputy PM of Azerbaijan Ali Hasanov delivered a speech titled “Legal and humanitarian aspects of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict”. Hasanov noted that as a result of occupation 20% of Azerbaijani territories by Armenians, one million Azerbaijanis became refugees and IDPs.

The Karabakh conflict caused damage to the economy of Azerbaijan in the amount of 60 billion U.S. dollars. Hasanov said that the conflict began in the late 80s of the last century as the Soviet Union collapsed. He touched on the decision of Regional Council of Deputies of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (Nagorny Karabakh) secession of Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan SSR and joining the Armenian SSR, displacement of Azerbaijani population through violence and terror and genocide against the Azerbaijanis and Meskhetian Turks on the night of February 25 to 26 in the town of Khojaly in Karabakh.

Ali Hasanov informed the participants on meeting the needs of refugees and internally displaced persons, providing them with housing, destructive position of Armenia on the settlement of the conflict, illegal settlement of occupied territories by persons of Armenian origin from other countries, drug cultivation in the occupied lands, and etc.

Director of the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center, Claude Moniquet said that Europe must become more involved in resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. "We must make every effort to resolve it," said Moniquet.

The founder and head of the organization Lawyers without Borders Pierre Legros said that to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict we must first educate the international community on this issue and get their attention. "And Europe could make contribution," he said.

Azerbaijani MPs Gudrat Hasanguliyev and Faraj Guliyev also made speeches at the event.
Books and materials on the Nagorno-Karabakh and Khojaly massacre were distributed to Belgian MPs.


/AzerTAc/