Azernews.Az

By Trend

Illegal economic activity in the occupied Azerbaijani territories creates conditions for illicit drug trafficking and other crimes, Azerbaijani Prime Minister Novruz Mammadov said.

Mammadov made the remarks at the 36th International Drug Enforcement Conference, being held in Baku, Trend reports on April 15.

The prime minister stressed that the world community is concerned that the military conflict zones are being used for drug trafficking.

“Azerbaijan also faced this problem,” he added. “For more than 25 years, Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven adjacent districts have been occupied by the Armenian armed forces.”

Mammadov stressed that the use of the Azerbaijani territories which are under occupation for the production and transit of drugs creates favorable conditions for the expansion of drug trafficking and international terrorism.

"The illegal economic activity of the companies attracted by Armenia to the occupied Azerbaijani territories creates conditions for the continuation of the occupation, as well as for drug trafficking and other crimes," he said. “The financial and economic activity, money transfer and investment in the occupied territories should be eliminated.”

"The Azerbaijani side has drawn up the corresponding blacklists to control this situation,” Mammadov said. “In this regard, Azerbaijan calls on the countries individuals and legal entities of which are involved in illegal activity in the occupied territories to take the corresponding measures."

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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