Azerbaijani MP raises issue of IDPs return to their lands in PACE

“War by all means is a very tragic and painful situation. But the war is over now and we are hopeful that it will never come back. The new situation creates a huge potential for cooperation. And I think that the international community should focus on that,” member of the Azerbaijani delegation to the Council of Europe Nigar Arpadarai said at a meeting of the migration committee as part of the spring session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Report informs.

She reminded that one million citizens of Azerbaijan still remain internally displaced persons, that their problems aren’t resolved yet.

Regarding the so-called Armenian ‘prisoners of war,’ the MP reminded that these people entered the territory of Azerbaijan after signing the ceasefire statement on November 10 and committed a number of war crimes, in particular, the murder of civilians, and they cannot be considered prisoners of war.

"This is a group of Armenian military revanchists. The Azerbaijani military and the Azerbaijani law enforcement bodies have detained these people and will charge them in accordance with Azerbaijani law. These people wanted to continue war. Now coming back to Azerbaijani IDPs, they have finally, they see prospects of going back, to their lands, from which they were kicked out 30 years ago. Please answer me. Can they come back now? No! Because there are minefields, and every time they want to go back, it’s a dangerous risk for them. Secondly, they cannot go back because their homes are destroyed, theirs schools are destroyed. When we start discussion about Armenian ‘captives’, and we miss such kind of crucial information, crucial facts, this discussion just becomes irrelevant. The problem of Azerbaijani refugees is in a very hot phase now. And safe return of refugees is a clear mandate of the Council of Europe so I am kindly asking you to take this into account.”