TODAY.AZ / Politics

Senior official: Absolute majority of displaced Azerbaijanis set to return to liberated lands

16 November 2020 [10:00] - TODAY.AZ

By Azernews


By Vafa Ismayilova

A senior official from the Azerbaijani State Committee for Refugees and IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) has said that the absolute majority of Azerbaijanis is set to return to the liberated lands, which had remained under the Armenian occupation for nearly three decades.

"The absolute majority of IDPs are determined to return to their native lands, their safe and dignified return is the only choice they want," the deputy chairman of the committee, Fuad Huseynov, said.

He added that the liberation of Azerbaijani lands from the Armenian occupation by the Azerbaijani army would allow the IDPs, who have been living the life of refugees for about 30 years, to return to their native lands.

As repeatedly stated by the head of state, the return of IDPs to their native lands where for centuries lived the people of Azerbaijan is one of the main objectives of the fight against Armenia's expansionist and occupation policy. In their appeals to the country's leadership and the state committee, IDPs have constantly stated that they not only want to return but also intend to actively participate in creative and restoration work to be carried out in the liberated lands, Huseynov said.

On November 10, Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia signed the trilateral declaration which ended the 30-years-old conflict between Baku and Yerevan over Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region that along with the seven adjacent districts came under the occupation of Armenian armed forces in the war in the early 1990s. For about three decades, Armenia failed to implement the UN Security Council resolutions (822, 853, 874 and 884) demanding the withdrawal of its troops from the occupied territories, which was the main obstacle to the conflict settlement. The OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France had been mediating the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict since the signing of the volatile cease-fire agreement in 1994. The Minsk Group’s efforts resulted in no progress as Armenia refused to abide by the UN Security Council resolutions.

Under this agreement, Russian peacekeepers are deployed in the region to patrol frontlines. Turkey also takes part in the peacekeeping process. Russia and Turkey signed a deal on creating a Russian-Turkish joint ceasefire monitoring centre. It also envisages the de-occupation of Azerbaijan’s Kalbajar, Aghdam and Lachin regions by December 1 as well as the return of Azerbaijani IDPs to Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven adjacent regions under the control of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan resumed after Armenia launched large-scale attacks on Azerbaijani forces and civilians on September 27. Five Azerbaijani civilians were killed on the first day of the Armenian attacks. Ninety-three Azerbaijani civilians were killed in Armenian's indiscriminate attacks on Azerbaijani civilians. Azerbaijan launched counter-offensive operations that ended in the liberation of over 300 settlements, villages. Azerbaijan also liberated five city centres and the historic Shusha city.  


URL: http://www.today.az/news/politics/200475.html

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