Problem of Armenian Refugees Revealed Asymmetry in Talks
The speeding up of the settlement process revealed the weak points of the negotiation process, NKR President's Aide for Foreign Policy Arman Melikian said in an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net. "The format of the talks doesn't correspond to the configuration of the conflict. The problem of the Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan is one of the factors. This problem was raised by the refugees themselves, who unified to protect their rights and appealed to the Armenian and Azerbaijani President as well as to the co-chair states," he remarked.
"According to the plan proposed by the mediators, Azerbaijan receives some territories while the Azeri refugees return to their homes. However one should not forget that unlike the Armenian population of Baku, Kirovabad and Sumgait these people were not subjected to violence and ethnic cleansings. Moreover many of them joined the Azeri troops and then retreated with the Azeri army. As you know at that time the military units in Azerbaijan were formed according to a territorial principle. Now the Co-chairs bypass the problem of the Armenian refugees. I would like to remind that the survey showed that Armenian refugees will not return to their former residence under the jurisdiction of the Azerbaijani Republic. "Refugees and International Law" civic society network proposes to include the issue of 500 thousand Armenian refugees in the agenda of the talks. As far as I know the members of the organization met with representatives of the Embassy of one of the co-chair states," Arman Melikian said.
Full text of the interview
"According to the plan proposed by the mediators, Azerbaijan receives some territories while the Azeri refugees return to their homes. However one should not forget that unlike the Armenian population of Baku, Kirovabad and Sumgait these people were not subjected to violence and ethnic cleansings. Moreover many of them joined the Azeri troops and then retreated with the Azeri army. As you know at that time the military units in Azerbaijan were formed according to a territorial principle. Now the Co-chairs bypass the problem of the Armenian refugees. I would like to remind that the survey showed that Armenian refugees will not return to their former residence under the jurisdiction of the Azerbaijani Republic. "Refugees and International Law" civic society network proposes to include the issue of 500 thousand Armenian refugees in the agenda of the talks. As far as I know the members of the organization met with representatives of the Embassy of one of the co-chair states," Arman Melikian said.
