Baku, Azerbaijan, July 24
By Sabina Ahmadova - Trend:
British MPs will raise the issue in the parliament about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement and the return of IDPs home, MP Christopher Pincher from Tamworth said, the European Azerbaijan Society reported on July 24.
"British MPs visited the new settlements built for IDPs in Sheki," Pincher added. "We were informed about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the impact on Azerbaijan. We will raise the issue in the British Parliament for the conflict to be resolved and internally displaced people to return home."
He also stated that he joined the "Many Happy Returns" campaign about more than one million refugees and internally displaced persons, victims of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Pincher, being a member of the Committee on Energy and Climate Change in the House of Commons of the British Parliament, has been a chairman of the Azerbaijan-UK friendship group since 2012.
Pincher personally visited the refugee camps and internally displaced persons in Azerbaijan, including Sheki and Gabala. He spoke to the Azerbaijani journalists during the visit of the Azerbaijan-UK friendship group to Azerbaijan in May this year.
"The name "Many Happy Returns" campaign, organized by the European Azerbaijan Society, was chosen on the basis of the congratulatory message in the English style," he said. "This is a kind of prayer for the fulfillment of the desires of people who want to return home. The photos of displaced people living only in three of 76 refugee camps in the regions of Azerbaijan were posted on the campaign website (www.manyhappyreturnsidp.com). The photos were shot by famous German photographer Philip Rathmer."
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.