France, Strasburg, 14 April / Trend corr A. Maharramli/ "Why do not we speak of the refugees and IDPs who were evicted from their land as a result of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict? We should pay attention to this as well," British MP Hancock Michael said at the PACE meeting on 14 April during the discussions over the situation in Armenia.
In response to the British MP's question, the chairman of the PACE Political Committee Luc Van den Brande said that he would visit the refugee camp in Azerbaijan the next week. The issues regarding both the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and refugees and IDPs will be considered after the visit.
The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began in 1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since 1992, Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20% of Azerbaijan including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which time the active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group ( Russia, France, and the US) are currently holding peaceful negotiations.