Azerbaijani MP: Armenia turns people into prisoners

Azerbaijani MP Aydin Mirzazade believes Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh are being held in captivity. He voiced his attitude toward the OSCE Minsk Group Field Assessment Mission's report, stating that they are held captive by Armenian nationalist ideology.

"Not only the world, but also Armenia does not take seriously the issuance of documents to people by Nagorno-Karabakh. Today, a group of people from Nagorno-Karabakh is provided by official documents of the Armenia Republic. However, according to our information, the vast majority of the population living in the occupied territories, especially the lower strata, has no documents. The Armenian authorities are afraid that people will leave this land if they receive the documents. The Armenian authorities, not giving the documents, in fact make these people into hostages of their policies," Mirzazade said on Monday.

On November 7-12 the OSCE Minsk Group conducted a field assessment mission at the seven Azerbaijani occupied territories adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh to assess the overall situation, including humanitarian and other issues. The assessment was carried out upon Azerbaijan’s appeal concerning illegal activities carried out by Armenia in the occupied lands such as illegal settlement, economic exploitation and the destruction of these lands.

The Field Assessment Mission’s report showed that the vast majority of people living in these occupied territories do not have identity cards. Mirzazade concludes that over the past 20 years the Armenian authorities have grown a mass that is far from civilized and controlled by the force of arms.

"These people do not have any rights, they are far from civilization and do not have faith in the future. They are only a tool in the hands of the Armenian authorities," he said.


/Trend/