Armenians Living in Artsakh Must Decide Their Fate Eventually: Azerbaijani Prime Minister

Azerbaijani Prime Minister Ali Asadov has stated that during the 44-day war, Azerbaijan seized not only the territory of the "buffer zone" comprising seven regions, three of which were returned without a shot being fired, but also the areas of Hadrut and Shushi.

Asadov also mentioned that the Armenian population living in the "Azerbaijani territories" temporarily controlled by Russian peacekeepers must decide their fate sooner or later. "The Armenians living in the areas temporarily controlled by peacekeepers must eventually decide their future. Although currently the attention of the state’s leadership and government is directed towards the restoration of liberated territories, accelerating repair and construction works, and socio-economic programs," said the Azerbaijani Prime Minister.

He also pointed out that the maps provided by Armenia of mined areas account for only 25 percent, complicating the restoration efforts in Nagorno-Karabakh. "Unfortunately, the fact that Armenia refused for a long time to provide the maps of mined territories, and subsequently the accuracy of the maps provided was only 25 percent, significantly slowed down recovery efforts in Karabakh and in ‘Eastern Zangezur,’" noted the Azerbaijani Prime Minister.

According to him, the restoration of the cities and villages in those regions and the creation of modern infrastructures will cost approximately 2.2 billion manats ($1.3 billion) to the state budget.