Separatist official says Armenians settled in Karabakh Azeri citizens
ANS TV, Baku
1 Feb 05
[Presenter] The head of the information department of the separatist
Nagornyy Karabakh regime, Aleksandr Grigoryan, has made an unexpected
statement while the OSCE mission is looking into whether Armenians are
being re-settled in Azerbaijan’s occupied territories. The
representative of the separatist regime described a large group of
Armenians living in these areas as Azerbaijani citizens and Karabakh
as a subject of talks. To recap, Xankandi [Stepanakert] has been
talking so far only about districts around Nagornyy Karabakh.
[Correspondent, over video of destroyed buildings in Karabakh] The
visit to the region by the OSCE fact-finding mission to look into the
illegal settlement of Armenians in Azerbaijan’s occupied territories
continues. The mission visited Kalbacar District yesterday [31
January] and Cabrayil District today [1 February], the head of the
information department of the separatist Nagornyy Karabakh regime,
Aleksandr Grigoryan, told ANS. The mission is still keeping under
wraps the information it obtained.
[Grigoryan, by phone in Russian with Azeri voice-over] The monitoring
group has not yet made any statements. It said that it was mainly
there to observe and listen. We hope it will give a news conference
after the monitoring.
[Correspondent] Grigoryan also said that the separatist regime had no
programme of Armenian settlement in the occupied territories. Then we
recalled that the chief of the department for refugees, migration and
re-settlement of the self-proclaimed regime, Serzh Amirkhanyan, had
spoken about the existence of such a programme. After this, Grigoryan
stepped back.
[Grigoryan, by phone] Are you saying that conditions should not be
created for people to live in Stepanakert, Askaran or some other
districts of Nagornyy Karabakh? This kind of approach is wrong. The
territories are the subject of talks. Armenians mainly from Baku,
Sumqayit and Kirovabad [old name of Ganca] are being settled in houses
here. They are Azerbaijani citizens as well, but of Armenian origin.
[Passage omitted: details of the fact-finding mission head’s interview
with the Armenian media]
[Correspondent] Azada Balayeva, ANS.