The illegal settlement of Syrian and Lebanese refugees in occupied Nagorno Karabakh raises concern, Chairperson of Azerbaijani parliament Sahiba Gafarova said at the plenary session of Federation Council of Russia's Federal Assembly today.
"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 chairperson said.
"I would like to give a brief outline of the history of Nagorno Karabakh to the attendants so that they would have a complete and objective idea of the conflict. On May 14, 1805, in Azerbaijan, in the village of Kurekchay near Ganja, the Kurekchay Treaty was signed on the transfer of the Karabakh Khanate to the Russian Empire," she reminded. "The agreement was signed by the Karabakh Khanate’s ruler Ibrahim Khalil Khan and the General of the Russian Empire Pavel Tsitsianov."
"I think that there is no need to talk about the role of Russia in resolving not only regional but also global issues. We hope that Russia, which is the co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group and has been working hard from the very beginning for a peaceful solution of the conflict, will use its authority in international politics and make its best to resolve the conflict," Gafarova said.
Speaking about the prospects for the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Gafarova said that Azerbaijan always demonstrates its commitment to peaceful diplomatic efforts in resolving the conflict following the norms and principles of international law, and, first of all, based on the inviolability of the territorial integrity and borders of states.
"Unfortunately, all the efforts of the Azerbaijani side to resolve the problem peacefully remain unsuccessful due to the destructive policy of the Armenian authorities, which give preference to various provocations and military rhetoric,” she said. “How can threats to strike civilian targets of Azerbaijan be assessed? I want to emphasize that Azerbaijan has never laid claim to foreign territories, and the Azerbaijani people will never allow a second Armenian state to be established on its historical lands."
She also noted that the expression "Who dies for fascism, dies for Armenia" is too dangerous.
Speaking about the fact that a monument to the fascist Garegin Nzhdeh was erected in the center of Yerevan, the speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament stressed that some countries, wishing to rewrite history, are trying to heroize Nazi collaborators, erect monuments to them, which causes fair anger and condemnation by the international community.
"Russia, not remaining on the sidelines, also expressed its attitude to this, becoming the initiator of the discussions and adoption of a resolution in the UN on the fight against the heroization of Nazism. But we see that a number of states, for example, Armenia, don’t recognize the UN’s decisions and other influential international organizations. How else the erection of a six-meter monument to the fascist Garegin Nzhdeh in the center of Yerevan can be explained? After all, the "Who dies for fascism, dies for Armenia" expression belongs to Armenia. I think that Armenia’s actions must not remain unnoticed, and an adequate response must be given," Gafarova said.
