Remembering Zengilan 21 years after occupation

By Leyla Salehli-Horgan

Every year, Azerbaijanis around the world mark Oct. 29 as a day of sorrow for loss of the last Azerbaijani town, Zangelan, in the southwest of Nagorno-Karabakh to an occupying Armenian army.

On Nov. 12, 1993, the U.N. Security Council adopted its fourth resolution, 884, calling for immediate withdrawal of Armenian forces, allowing the return of Azerbaijani refugees and reiterating the stance of the international community condemning Armenian occupation with three prior resolutions, 822, 853 and 874. On March 14, 2008, the U.N. General Assembly endorsed the position on territorial integrity of Azerbaijan by resolution A/62/L.42, calling for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian forces "from all the occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan." Armenia is yet to comply.

According to the U.S. Refugee Committee's report (2000) on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, "more than 568,000 persons from western regions of Azerbaijan under Armenian occupation since 1993, including 42,072 from Nagorno-Karabakh, remained displaced within the country."

As a member of the Azerbaijani-American community, I urge the U.S. government to be proactive in exerting pressure on Armenia to take a constructive stance, force it to comply with U.N. resolutions, withdraw from internationally recognized Azerbaijani territories and allow the return of Azerbaijani refugees to their homes.

Bakudaily.Az