Azerbaijan reserves the right to liberate the occupied territories - MFA

Baku/17.05.18/Turan: The official representative of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, Hikmet Hajiyev, made a special statement on the eve of the 26th anniversary of the occupation of Lachin region.

On May 18, 1992, Armenian forces occupied the Lachin region, which was not part of the former Nagorno-Karabakh, the document says. As a result of the occupation, the population of the Lachin region was subjected to ethnic cleansing. At present, the residents of the Lachin region number more than 77,000 people as internally displaced persons in various regions of Azerbaijan.

The Armenian forces inflicted significant damage to the state and private property of the region. So, 217 cultural, 101 educational institutions, 142 objects of the healthcare system, 462 enterprises of the trade sector, 30 - communications, 2 - vehicles and other production facilities for various purposes were plundered and destroyed.

54 historical monuments of the world and more than 200 local values ​​were vandalized. Among them, the Caucasian-Albanian temple Agoglan fourth century., Shrine of the fourteenth century. Melik Azhdar, a mosque in the village of Garagishlag, an ancient cemetery in the village of Zabukh.

Lachin historical museum and its collection, consisting of ancient gold, silver and bronze coins, were looted. Thus, a silver handbag, an exhibit of the Lachin Historical Museum, was sold in London at the Sotheby's auction for $ 80,000.

Armenia, grossly violating the obligations imposed on it by the Geneva Conventions, continues illegal actions to change geographical names, loot the region's natural resources, and change its demographic composition through the deliberate resettlement of ethnic Armenians, mostly refugees from Syria.

The European Court of Human Rights, adopting in the case of Chiragov and Others against Armenia", a decision in favor of forcibly expelled from Lachin region citizens of Azerbaijan, found a violation of their property rights, respect for private and family life, as well as for judicial protection, enshrined in the Convention on protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

The occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and adjacent regions by the armed forces of the Republic of Armenia, ethnic cleansing against the Azerbaijani population of the occupied areas clearly demonstrates that Armenia's true intentions are to acquire territories through military aggression and occupation.

Armenia ignores the requirements of the four resolutions of the UN Security Council and continues the policy of annexing the territories of Azerbaijan. The conflict can be resolved only on the conditions of restoration of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijani side, supporting the intensification of international efforts towards an early resolution of the conflict, reserves the right to restore its territorial integrity and sovereignty within the internationally recognized borders, as well as to ensure the trampled interests of its citizens, the statement says.-06D-