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World rewards violence, Azerbaijani ambassador to US says

Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict Materials 7 April 2016 11:03 (UTC +04:00)
The world rewards violence and uncivilized behavior, Azerbaijan’s ambassador to Washington, Elin Suleymanov, said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post.
World rewards violence, Azerbaijani ambassador to US says

Baku, Azerbaijan, April 7

By Elena Kosolapova - Trend:

The world rewards violence and uncivilized behavior, Azerbaijan's ambassador to Washington, Elin Suleymanov, said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post.

Suleymanov was commenting the situation with the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Suleymanov said that the world ignores those asserting their rights through appeals to international law and conscience.

"It does appear that the world feels more comfortable ignoring the conflict," the ambassador said.

"Our displaced population is not engaged in any violence," he said. "They did not emigrate anywhere. Our refugees and internally displaced people moved in the areas outside the occupied areas in Azerbaijan, and have built their lives there."

Suleymanov described a situation whereby the Azerbaijan government has spent a great deal of money and made it a priority to integrate hundreds and thousands of their compatriots.

"The down side is that if refugees are integrated and build a normal life, the world seems to say you have no rights, forgets your right to return to your homeland," Suleymanov said.

"In a sense it is unfair," he said. "The world rewards violence, the world rewards uncivilized behavior."

He said that Baku has found the balance between asserting its legal right over Nagorno-Karabakh and getting international bodies to recognize those rights, without sacrificing the daily life of the refugees.

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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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