Azerbaijan, Baku, August 2 / Trend /
The preliminary number of members of the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh is more than 75,000 people, of which 29,000 are residents of Shusha, 13,000 - Khojaly, 11,000 - Khojavand, 15,000 - Khankendi. Our compatriots have become internally displaced persons, chairman of the Public Association "Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Azerbaijani Republic" Bayram Safarov said in an interview with the official website of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party
He said that there are problems connected with the specification of the final figures of members of the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh.
"The exact number of inhabitants is unknown because of liquidating Agdere region," he said. "The operations are held in this direction. The process of clarifying is very complex. It requires much time. Just imagine that the community members live in all regions of the country. Shusha residents live in 59 regions, 220 settlements."
Safarov does not believe that the number of members of the Armenian community of Nagorno-Karabakh will be more than Azerbaijani one
"As you know, a group of intellectuals visited Nagorno-Karabakh some time ago," he said.
"They held different meetings there. I want to say that the information on the number of members of the Armenian community of Nagorno-Karabakh, voiced by the Armenian sources, does not correspond to reality. After the conflict, the majority of Armenians left Nagorno-Karabakh. If we take into account the number of Armenians, resettled there after the conflict, there are few of them because there is a very low standard of living."
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 Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.