Chairman of the Azerbaijani Community of Nagorno-Karabakh Public Union Tural Ganjaliyev has appealed to the Armenian residents of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, EDNews.net reports citing APA.

The appeal reads:

"I appeal to the Armenian residents of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan!

Dear Armenian residents of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan, I appeal to you as your elected representative.

This message is a message of peace! It is time to achieve a fair and lasting peace, even late!

The former Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan has been one of the most developed regions of our country for many years. We, the Armenian and Azerbaijani residents of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan, have lived and will live together peacefully there for many years.

I grew up in Shusha. I remember very well that when I was a child living in Shusha, Armenian and Azerbaijani children spent time and played together in our neighborhood. I had Armenian classmates in the class I studied. An Armenian woman named Yelena lived on the street next to us. We went to Shusha chess school with her son. At that time, I was so passionate about chess that I dreamed of becoming a world chess champion in the future. When I was studying tar in Shusha music school, I knew Armenian students who took music lessons with us. Our life was very happy and interesting. Unfortunately, our beautiful life was later destroyed by the occupation.

I know that there is no representative of the middle and old generation in the Armenian community of Nagorno-Karabakh who did not have a close Azerbaijani friend in the past. The same can be said about Armenians when talking about members of the Azerbaijani community in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

Unfortunately, for almost 30 years, the young generation of the Armenian and Azerbaijani communities in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan has been growing up unaware of each other as a result of the occupation. They are sometimes unaware of the coexistence of Armenians and Azerbaijanis in the recent past.

We also understand the suffering of the Armenian residents of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan. As the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan is currently under Armenian occupation, the Armenian residents of the region have been forced to live in captivity of the Armenian occupation regime.

I would like to draw the attention of each of you to the fact that the Republic of Azerbaijan, of which you are a citizen, is the strongest state in our region, both economically, militarily and politically. This state is the only guarantor of our happy future. The Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan is geographically connected only with the Republic of Azerbaijan and does not belong to any other state.

On behalf of the Azerbaijani residents of the region, I convey this message to every Armenian origin resident of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan that we must be ready to live together in peace.

I believe that the Armenian residents of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan also understand that there is an absolute need for dialogue with the Azerbaijani residents of the region. We must think about living together in peace and achieve this. Azerbaijanis expelled from their homes must return to the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region. We have not been able to visit the graves of our ancestors for many years, and this situation must be eliminated.

Unfortunately, the Armenian residents of the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan have created an image of "enemy" against Azerbaijan, and negative stereotypes have been formed. All this is baseless.

Armenian and Azerbaijani residents of the region can live as an autonomous entity within the internationally recognized borders of the Republic of Azerbaijan. There are many models of this in the world, and I believe that the Azerbaijani and Armenian residents of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan can together create the most successful form of autonomy in the world!

We, the Armenian and Azerbaijani residents of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, can and will turn our Nagorno-Karabakh region, now named after the war and IDPs, into one of the most important tourist regions of Azerbaijan and even the world. The Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan can and will be distinguished by the high development of culture, economy and human capital.

We, the Armenian and Azerbaijani residents of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, will live within the internationally recognized borders of the Republic of Azerbaijan, with a high status of self-government, and will determine our destiny in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan! There is no alternative!

As the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev emphasized, restoration works will be carried out in all liberated lands of Azerbaijan, all infrastructure will be rebuilt, and the highest opportunities for the development of tourism, economy and other areas will be created in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan."