France, Strasbourg, June 22 / Trend, A. Maharramli /
The Council of Europe should pay particular attention to the violated rights of Azerbaijani refugees and IDPs, member of the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE, MP Ganira Pashayeva said this week. She made the statement while asking Chairman of the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki about Azerbaijani refugees and IDPs.
"June 20 is World Refugee Day," she said. "I would like to know your attitude toward the treatment of the 1 million refugees and IDPs who live in Azerbaijan - a country which has no analogues in the world in terms of the number of refugees. One fundamental principle of the Council of Europe is protecting human rights. A member of the organization, Armenia, has occupied another member of the organization, Azerbaijan, over 15 years, and is not allowing these refugees and IDPs to return home. What steps are you going to take to restore their rights?"
Milososki then stressed that addressing the issue of Azerbaijani refugees and IDPs is an integral part of settling the conflict.
"I would like to emphasize that you raise another aspect of the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict - the issue of refugees and IDPs," he said. "I can say that addressing the problem and restoring the rights of refugees and IDPs is an integral part of the settlement of the conflict. At the same time, through visits by the chairman of the Committee of Ministers to Azerbaijan and Armenia, the Council of Europe should further expand its activities in this area. The council should provide political support to continue the dialogue between all sides, especially in resolving the problems of refugees and IDPs."