Azerbaijan Taking Steps To Reintegrate Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians - Foreign Ministry

Azerbaijan has started taking steps aimed at the "reintegration" of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh, a region on the border with Armenia, that proclaimed its independence from Baku in 1991, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Aykhan Hajizada said on Friday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th March, 2023) Azerbaijan has started taking steps aimed at the "reintegration" of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh, a region on the border with Armenia, that proclaimed its independence from Baku in 1991, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Aykhan Hajizada said on Friday.

Earlier this week, the Azerbaijani presidential administration invited representatives of the Armenian civil society of Nagorno-Karabakh to Baku for a meeting on reintegration, as well as to discuss the implementation of infrastructure projects.

"Azerbaijan is already taking steps towards the reintegration of Armenian residents living in its territory. Azerbaijan conducts a dialogue with Armenian residents and as a goodwill step has proposed to hold the next meeting in Baku. On the contrary, the Armenian side completely rejected the dialogue proposal of the Western Azerbaijan Community. This is an indication that Armenia is not interested in peace and stability in the region and is conducting a duplicitous policy," Hajizada said.

The decades-long conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh flared up again in September 2020, marking the worst escalation since the 1990s. Hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered trilateral declaration of ceasefire signed in November 2020. The two former Soviet countries agreed to the deployment of Russian peacekeepers in the region. Occasional clashes have since occurred on the border.

Since December 2022, the Lachin Corridor � a road which runs through Azerbaijani territory and serves as the only link between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh � has been blocked by a group of people from Azerbaijan described by Baku as environmental activists protesting alleged illegal Armenian mining in the area.

The United Nations' main judicial body ruled in February that Azerbaijan must ensure unimpeded movement along the Lachin Corridor. Armenia argued in the court filing that the activists were acting on Baku's command and demanded that it "cease its orchestration and support" of the blockade.