Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug.28
By Ilkin Izzet - Trend:
The world community, reputable international organizations deal only with making futile statements and adoption of resolutions which remain on paper, instead of taking specific steps to solve conflicts, Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of the State Committee on Refugees and IDPs Ali Hasanov said on a meeting with the Iraqi ambassador in the country Haydar al-Barraki on Aug. 27.
"As a result, their credibility decreases with each passing day," he added.
Hasanov noted that the Azerbaijani government is concerned about the processes taking place in Iraq due to the presence of these refugees and IDPs, stressing that millions of civilians suffer every year in such conflicts throughout the world.
Deputy Prime Minister regretted that the international community turned a blind eye to these processes, remaining indifferent to millions of civilians dying, becoming refugees and internally displaced persons.
Hasanov mentioned events in Iraq, the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and the problem of refugees and displaced persons being illustrative examples.
Iraqi ambassador also noted that as a result of events occurring in Iraq, the country faced with the problem of internally displaced persons, hundreds of thousands of people were forced to flee their homes.
The statement of the High Commissioner for Refugees from June 20 notes that the number of Iraqi refugees has reached 1.4 million, Al-Barraki said.
The diplomat expressed regret at the fact that both countries faced a similar problem.
Views on other issues of mutual interest were also exchanged at the meeting.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan.
As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented four U.N. Security Council resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.