Azerbaijan appeals to Minsk Group co-chairs over Armenia's illegal steps

"Recently, videos have been spread on social networks showing that the aggressor Armenia continues its illegal resettlement policy in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions of Azerbaijan. Making use of the tragic explosion in the Lebanese, Beirut, Yerevan began to implement plans to relocate Lebanese Armenians to Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent areas of Azerbaijan, which are internationally recognized and currently under military occupation. This illicit activity is a gross violation of the norms and principles of international law by Armenia, including the 1949 Geneva Convention and its Additional Protocols and Armenia's obligations," the press service of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Report.

"Armenia's purpose, which pursues a policy of illegitimate settlement, is clear; the aggressor country is thereby trying to strengthen ethnic cleansing results in the occupied territories, and the status quo based on the invasion.

"Armenia tries to artificially increase their people here by illegally relocating ethnic Armenians, who have not any relation with the region, to Azerbaijan's currently occupied lands. For almost 30 years, the enemy has been preventing the return of Azerbaijani IDPs to their homes and property, whose human rights have been violated and who have been forcibly expelled from Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas.

"The Armenian leadership, which seeks to escalate tensions in the region, impacts resolving the conflict at the negotiating table with this annexation policy.

"The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has raised serious objections to Armenia's lawless settlement policy, particularly the resettlement of ethnic Armenians from Lebanon to the Nagorno-Karabakh region and adjacent districts of Azerbaijan, before the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs and relevant international organizations. The international community will be regularly informed about illegal activities in our invaded territories. Our efforts within international organizations will continue to put an end to this unlawful practice.

"We call on the international community to take practical steps to bring the Armenian government to justice, which invades Azerbaijani territories and carries out illegal activities in these territories," the Foreign Ministry said.