Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 29
By Anvar Mammadov - Trend:
Armenia should be severely punished for the damage caused to Azerbaijan, the head of the working group on assessment of the damage caused by the Armenian aggression to Azerbaijan, MP of Milli Majlis (Parliament) of Azerbaijan Khanhuseyn Kazimli told Trend Aug.28.
"It is very difficult to express in figures the damage caused to Azerbaijan for the years of occupation of its lands," said Kazimli. "It is not only the damage inflicted on the territory and monuments of culture, it's a huge number of nuances that must be considered as one, and Armenia should be severely and fairly punished for that damage."
He also said that while assessing the damage it is necessary to take into account that due to the occupiers, frontline areas of Azerbaijan have lost their investment attractiveness.
"Due to the occupation of our lands by Armenia we have lost the opportunity to invest in the development of tourism in Karabakh, no investor wants to make investments in frontline areas of Azerbaijan, as he (she) understands that it is dangerous," said Kazimli. "How can one do business there, if every day the Armenian occupying forces shell these areas?"
The MP went on to add that it is important not only to assess the damage, but also to promulgate this damage, bring it to the whole world, at the same time showing the true face of Armenia, and said that for this purpose, experts from around the world are attracted to the work of the group in charge of assessing the damage.
"We attract our experts from Iran, Moldova, Hungary, Germany, Turkey, Russia and many other countries," he said. "These experts help us in the evaluation. In early October, we plan to hold a special training on the evaluation work. We also invited foreign experts for that. Besides, in our work we use materials about Azerbaijan published by foreign historians and scientists."
Kazimli said that every Azerbaijani, all the Azerbaijani public should conduct this work not only within the country but also abroad.
"Anyone who has any information, documents proving inflicting the damage on Azerbaijan by Armenia should help in this work," he said. "This issue is important for the whole Azerbaijani people."
The damage caused by Armenia during the years of occupation of Azerbaijani lands amounts to at least $700 billion, according to preliminary estimates of the working group.
A working group of 15 people is operating under the state commission for rehabilitation and reconstruction of Azerbaijan's territories occupied as a result of military operations and affected in connection with this.
The Azerbaijani presidential administration, the deputy prime minister, the chairman of the State Committee for Refugees and IDPs, Ali Hasanov, and a number of ministries and committees contribute to the group's work.
The objective here is to calculate the inflicted damage, with the participation of international organizations and in line with international standards.
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 US are currently holding peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
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