Advisory Committee on the Council of Europe`s Framework Convention  for the Protection of National Minorities calls on Azerbaijan to  create conditions for safe, unimpeded and sustainable return of  Armenians to Nagorno-Karabakh

ArmInfo. The Advisory Committee on the  Council of Europe's Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities urges the authorities of Azerbaijan  to create the political, legal and practical conditions necessary for  safe, unimpeded and sustainable return of displaced Armenians from  Nagorno-Karabakh and to set a dedicated mechanism to deal with  property issues. This is stated in the recommendation of the opinion  published today by the Advisory Committee, which is assessing the  situation in occupied Artsakh for the first time

The conclusion of the opinion notes that restrictions on the freedom  of expression, assembly and association limit the possibilities of  persons belonging to national minorities to effectively enjoy their  rights. "Immediate actions must be taken to address the situation  following the Karabakh conflict," the published opinion says.

"Urges the Azerbaijani authorities to inventory, protect and preserve  all Armenian religious and cultural sites and artefacts and to  investigate all allegations of vandalism, destruction and alteration  of historic and cultural monuments and cemeteries used by ethnic  Armenians in the region. Urges the Azerbaijani authorities to refrain  from and condemn firmly any manifestations of intolerance and  spreading of ethnic hatred against persons belonging to the Armenian  community, in order to facilitate the reconciliation process," the  document says.

It is noteworthy that the opinion of the Advisory Committee on the  Council of Europe's Framework Convention uses exclusively Azerbaijani  toponyms for Nagorno-Karabakh, rather than internationally accepted  ones. "In this opinion, the Advisory Committee assesses, for the  first time, the situation in the Karabakh region. During this  monitoring cycle, Azerbaijan reestablished its effective control over  Karabakh, as well as seven adjacent regions. At the same time,  following an almost ten-month blockade of the Lachin corridor, the  military operation of the Azerbaijani authorities in September 2023  and the sudden reopening of the corridor, more than 100,000 Armenians  have left the region," the CoE structure concluded.