§ Dr. GodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the Government's policy regarding the current political, economic and civil circumstances of the Armenian community resident in Azerbaijan.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggMost of the Armenian community in Azerbaijan live in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Their economic conditions are dire as the result of an armed dispute over the region's future since 1988. We have given £250,000 to the International Committee of the Red Cross for relief work in Nagorno-Karabakh. We fully support talks under the auspices of the CSCE to settle this dispute and believe that the only solution likely to be stable should involve autonomy for the people of Nagorno-Karabakh under Azerbaijani sovereignty. Elsewhere in Azerbaijan around 20,000 Armenians remain. Most of these are in mixed marriages with Azeris. Over 200,000 Armenians have fled Azerbaijan. We have provided £200,000 to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for relief work amongst Armenian refugees.