Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen believe in a complete settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

James Warlick, the U.S. co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group said in Baku on June 14 that the Minsk Group wishes for the internally displaced peoples to return to their homelands.

He noted that as mediators, they [OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs] waste no effort in making that happen soon. Warlick added that many things, however, depend on the leaders of the two countries and the political will of the sides.

Igor Popov, Russian co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group, in turn, said Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents reaffirmed during a meeting in Paris their desire to meet again and OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs are working on the agenda of the upcoming meeting.

“We are also going to visit the region this or next month and discuss the details,” he said.

OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, along with Andrzej Kasprzyk, the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Personal Representative held a meeting in Azerbaijan’s Absheron district for the IDPs from Azerbaijan’s occupied Zangilan region and visited Zangilan region secondary school No 33 in Baku.

Warlick said good conditions have been created for the IDPs.

Moreover, the Minsk Group co-chairs visited an IDP family from Zangilan. The family members explained to the co-chairs about how they became IDPs in 1993 and lived in a university hostel for a long period of time.

The bloody war, which flared up in the late 1980s as a result of Armenia's territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor, left 700,000 civilians of Nagorno-Karabakh, the regions adjoining it, and regions bordering Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh without homes.

They are provided temporary shelter in more than 1,600 settlements across 62 cities and regions of Azerbaijan.

Moreover, 250,000 Azerbaijanis were expelled from Armenia and became refugees due to Armenia's ethnic cleansing policy after the eruption of violence in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The Azerbaijanis who had been displaced from their homes as result of the brutal war were forced to live in refugee camps and tents under very difficult conditions.

Peace talks brokered by mediators from Russia, France, and the U.S. have produced no results thus far.

The UN Security Council has passed four resolutions on the Armenian withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but they have not been enforced to this day.

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

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