(MENAFN- Trend News Agency ) Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18
By Elchin Mehdiyev – Trend:
Azerbaijan faced a major migration problem due to Armenia's aggression, Parviz Musayev, deputy head of the State Migration Service, said Dec. 18 in Baku at an event dedicated to the International Migrants Day.
He said that after Azerbaijan gained independence, approximately 300,000 Azerbaijanis were expelled from Armenia because of their nationality.
'As a result of Armenia's occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijani lands, about 700,000 our compatriots became IDPs,' Musayev said.
Azerbaijan copes with these processes with dignity, he added.
'It is difficult for European countries to cope with smaller number of migrants, while Azerbaijan solves the problem of more than one million refugees and IDPs on its own,' Musayev said.
He added that Azerbaijan will never accept the occupation of its lands.
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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