Azerbaijan, Baku, June 16 / Trend K. Zarbaliyeva /
Providing Azerbaijani refugees from Armenia with Azerbaijani citizenship will help them return home after the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Hasanov told media.
The decree on the construction of a new settlement for refugees from Armenia, signed by Heydar Aliyev in 2001, stressed the preservation of the status of refugees of Armenian citizens.
"The status of Azerbaijani refugees from Armenia and the opportunity to return to these lands remain in force," Hasanov said.
He said after the occupied territories are released, the next challenge will be the return of refugees to Armenia.
"Azerbaijan will never give up these territories," he said.
"This is the land of our ancestors. Armenians formed a state there and expelled our countrymen. But this is the Azerbaijani land. Although we do not consider these lands as the territory of independent Azerbaijan, we will claim for our compatriots to live there."