Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 25 / Trend K. Zarbaliyeva /
Resettlement of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDP) in new settlements in Azerbaijan will continue next year.
"Resettlement of IDPs, temporarily residing in the Mingachevir city and the Agjabedi region's Tahtakorpu village, as well as in Goranboy region, in new settlements will launch next year. About 4,000 IDPs live in difficult conditions now," Ali Hasanov, Deputy Prime Minister, Head of the State Committee for Refugees and IDPs, told journalists today.
Nearly 100,000 refugees and IDPs have been resettled in new villages. Some 11,000 of them are refugees and 89,000 are IDPs.
According to Hasanov, two five-story buildings are ready for refugees and IDPs in the Gabala region, three in the Goranboy region and 10 in Yevlakh.
Resettlement of refugees and IDPs, residing in hostels, will commence next year, Hasanov said.
"This year, some financial difficulties were observed in connection with the resettlement. So, we could not set up their resettlement this year," he said.
Over one million refugees and IDPs live in Azerbaijan due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and deportation of Azerbaijanis from Armenia.
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 United States - 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.