The illegal settlement policy of Armenians in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan is a serious threat to peace and security in the region. Thus, the head of the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh regime, Araik Harutyunyan, recently met with the Catholicos of Cilicia, the I Aram, and discussed the resettlement of a group of Armenian families from Lebanon to Nagorno-Karabakh.
In general, Armenia has recently intensified speculations over the conflict. Amendments to the law on conscription in the occupier country are also aimed at attracting terrorist forces to the region under the name of "volunteers", and this reveals the true nature of Armenia as a terrorist state.
As for Lebanon, it is known that this country has always been a place where terrorists live and grow. The first Armenian terrorist organization ASALA established in 1875 in Lebanon. That is, there is a connection between the history of Armenian terror and Lebanon. The recent explosion in the seaport of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, has provided a pretext for continuing the process of illegal resettlement in Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas. Armenia created the same "opportunity" for itself during the Syrian conflict.
In 2012, special meetings were organized in Armenia on the fate of Syrian Armenians, and statements were made on behalf of the Karabakh Armenians that "we are ready to assist and receive Syrian Armenians".
In 2012, the Armenian media reported, citing one of the representatives of the separatist regime, Suren Khachatryan, 5 Armenian families from Syria came to Lachin region for permanent residence, and 7 more families are expected to come here.
“In 2011, only 8,500 people lived in Kashatag (Lachin district). Local officials go to meet with anyone who wants to settle in this region. Houses are being built for the settlers or houses left vacant after the war are being repaired” - these views were published in 2013 on the website Times.am.
In those years, there were proposals to establish a "Public Council for Resettlement" for the resettlement of Syrian Armenians in Karabakh and to settle them in the form of camps in the occupied territories. However, Syrian Armenians insisted on refusing to be deported, saying "It is better to live in war-torn Syria than in peaceful Nagorno-Karabakh". However, Armenia continued its artificial migration policy.
Pashinyan, who calls himself a democrat, continues the terrorist policy of the military junta regime today. Armenia intends to change the demographic composition of these areas through artificial migration, which been carried out for many years. This is Armenia's next step contrary to international law – and contradicts the 1949 Geneva Convention and its protocols. Therefore, the international community, especially the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, must react to such actions of Armenia, which contradict the essence of the talks and threaten peace and security in the region. The work of mediators should not be limited only to a call for a "ceasefire." The OSCE fact-finding mission should organize visits to these areas to investigate the issue, and prevent this dangerous policy.
Another dangerous point that undermines the peace process is the provocative statements made by the Armenian leadership during its visits to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.
In addition to the provocative visits of Armenian Prime Minister Nicole Pashinyan, his wife Anna Akopyan, who is not off the agenda due to financial machinations, also joined a blow to peace process policy. She once again demonstrated the aggressive nature of her country by participating in military exercises in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. However, in 2018, A. Akopyan introduced herself as a defender of peace in the region and invited Azerbaijani women to join the "Women for Peace" campaign. In other words, like Pashinyan, his wife's behavior is full of contradictions. Just as Pashinyan violated his calls for a global ceasefire and peace, Akopyan also soon forgot her calls for peace, ignored the existence of villages inhabited by civilian Azerbaijanis, and called on women to use weapons to defend Nagorno-Karabakh. The contradiction is that Armenia asks all international organizations, including the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, to support a peaceful solution to the conflict, but at the same time prepares Armenian women for war.
That is to say, a peace-loving state should not pursue an artificial migration policy in order to change the demographic composition of the occupied territories, and the prime minister’s wife should not call on women to take up arms and create war mood in them.
In any case, the co-chairs are well aware of this simple logic (?).
Konul Nurullayeva is an Azerbaijani MP and Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
