Sahiba Gafarova: Illegal resettlement of Syrian, Lebanese refugees in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh raises concern
The illegal settlement of Syrian and Lebanese refugees by Armenia in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan raises concern, said Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament Sahiba Gafarova.
She made the remarks Wednesday during her speech at the Federation Council of Russia's Federal Assembly.
"I cannot but touch upon the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which is the most painful problem of Azerbaijan. A fifth of the Azerbaijani territories - the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts are occupied,” the speaker said.
Gafarova gave a brief outline of the history of Nagorno-Karabakh in order for the attendants to have a complete and objective understanding of the conflict.
“The Kurekchay Treaty on the transfer of the Karabakh Khanate to the Russian Empire was signed in the village of Kurekchay near Ganja, Azerbaijan on 14 May 1805. The agreement was signed by the Karabakh Khanate’s ruler Ibrahim Khalil Khan and General of the Russian Empire Pavel Tsitsianov,” she reminded.
“In 1921, the Caucasian Bureau of the Bolshevik Party made a decision to retain Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan. This is not about “transfer”, as some fake Armenian sources unreasonably claim, but about “preservation”. In 1923, the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic adopted a decree on the creation of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region within Azerbaijan,” Gafarova added.
The speaker stressed that that Armenia has never abandoned its attempts to seize Nagorno-Karabakh.
“In the 1980s, this happened again. At this time, hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis, who have lived for centuries on their historical lands, were deported from Armenia, and 700,000 ethnic Azerbaijanis were expelled from their permanent residence in Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. As a result of ethnic cleansing, there were numerous casualties among the civilian population. Despite modern international humanitarian law, the demographic situation in the occupied territories was illegally changed,” Gafarova concluded.
Similar news
