Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry talks creation of Sydney settlement in occupied Kalbajar

By  Trend

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has commented on the information spread in the Armenian media regarding the creation of the Sydney settlement in the occupied Kalbajar district of Azerbaijan, as well as the construction of a new road connecting the occupied Azerbaijani districts along the Araz River with Armenia.

“Armenia’s continued illegal activity in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, contrary to the spirit of the negotiation process and discussions at the CIS summit in Dushanbe, is detrimental to international efforts to resolve the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a message on Oct. 17.

"This once again demonstrates that the words of Armenia contradict its actions - the non-constructive position of that country and lack of interest in the conflict settlement through negotiations," the message said.

"The change of demographic situation by Armenia in the occupied Azerbaijani territories and other similar actions are a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. The issue of illegal actions in the occupied Azerbaijani territories is constantly raised at international organizations," the message said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.