Azerbaijan, Baku, June 17 / Trend M. Aliyev /
Azerbaijan would do well to cooperate with international humanitarian organizations until the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is resolved, Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of the State Committee for Refugees and IDPs Ali Hasanov said.
"Azerbaijan has the capabilities of solving the problem of its internally displaced people", Hasanov said at the conference "Improving the living standards of displaced people and local farmers in Azerbaijan - the opportunities of using FAO experience in other areas".
"Many international humanitarian organizations stress this. But it is necessity to continue cooperating until the people driven away from their native lands because of Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan can return home."
Hasanov said that the total amount of money spent on the displaced people will reach $4.5 billion by late 2011.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE MinskGroup - 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 Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.