Armenia is concerned that thus far the international mechanism envisaged under clause 7 of the 9 November 2020 trilateral statement hasn’t been initiated, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at the Cabinet sitting.
Clause 7 of the agreement provides for the return of internally displaced persons and refugees to Nagorno Karabakh and adjacent regions under the supervision of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
“This means that international mechanisms for return to Nagorno Karabakh’s Hadrut region, Shushi, Martuni and Martakert regions, Shahumyan region, Getashen, Lachin and other adjacent regions of Nagorno Karabakh must be initiated. And I have instructed the foreign ministry to start official negotiations with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees over this topic,” the PM said.
He added that Armenians who’ve been subjected to ethnic cleansing in Azerbaijan’s Baku, Shirvan, Sumgait, Kirovabad, Khanlar, Shamkhor, Nakhijevan and other regions are complaining about lack of government action for their return.
“The problem is that clause 7 of the November 9 statement concerns only refugees of Nagorno Karabakh and the adjacent regions, but of course this is not an obstruction for the Armenians who’ve been subjected to ethnic cleansing in Baku, Shirvan, Sumgait, Kirovabad, Khanlar, Shamkhor, Nakhijevan and other Azerbaijani regions to self-organize and protect their rights to property, return and other rights in international courts,” Pashinyan said.
