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Azerbaijan Resettles Shahumyan Region With Refugees


MosJan

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AZERBAIJAN RESETTLES SHAHUMYAN REGION WITH REFUGEES

 

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 23, ARMENPRESS: Edik Balayan, chairman of an organization uniting former residents of Shahumyan region in Nagorno-Karabakh, now under Azerbaijan's occupation, announced Thursday he has obtained copies of documents, which attest to an Azerbaijani plan to resettle the region with Azeri refugees.

Balayan said he had obtained copies of an Azeri government decision and a decree signed by the government of this covert plan. The documents clearly delegate responsibilities to various Azeri ministries and government organizations to steer the plan.

Based on the documents, since 2002, the Azeri government has been constructing 140 residences a year in the area, especially in the urban parts of the region. The plan calls for resettling 30,000 to 35,000 Azeris in Shahumyan, which was once home to 21,000 Armenians who were either massacred or forcibly evacuated from the region during the Nagorno-Karabakh movement.

Balayan also revealed that the government was pledging a monthly stipend of 25,000 manats ($4,500) to settlers, adding that such incentives were necessary since many people would not move there. The Shahumyan-Getashen region was one of the focal points of the Karabakh liberation movement. From 1991-1992 the Azeri OMON (special police force) units forced out the 20,000 Armenians living in the region through massacres and deportations.

Balayan announced that his organization has appealed to the European Court of Human Rights by presenting a law suit by four families that were deported from the Shahumyan-Getashen region.

He said that the court has decided to hear the case and has sent the necessary documentation to the Azeri government. The Armenian side has also appealed to the OSCE to send observers to the Shahumyan, Getashen and Martunashen regions to compile a report on the deportations, but no action has been taken on that front.

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