of the international community has started drafting a Framework Plan for the Return of IDPs to the occupied regions after the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict (The Great Return Programme). Meskhetian Turks In 1944, Meskhetian Turks were deported en masse from Georgia to Central Asia by Joseph Stalin. One of the regions they resettled in was Fergana Valley, Uzbekistan. In 1989, interethnic violence occurred there triggering an evacuation of Meskhetian Turks from Uzbekistan. This group of refugees in Azerbaijan numbered about 50,000 people. According to the 1998 Citizenship Law, they are all eligible for citizenship. By the end of 2001, UNHCR estimated that most of them were believed to have naturalized. Statistics According to State Committee of Azerbaijan for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, there were 603,251 IDPs in Azerbaijan in March 2009. The majority live in and around Baku, as well as in Sumgayit. Significant numbers of IDPs also live along the central-southern route of Fuzuli–Aghdam–Aghjabadi–Barda–Mingechevir–Ganja, the northern route of Shamakhi–Ismayilli–Qabala–Shaki and the southern route of Sabirabad–Saatly–Imishli–Beylagan. Problems Although relations between IDPs and the local population are generally amicable and there is a high level of tolerance among the local population, there are instances of conflicts arising due to the special status of IDPs (such as privileged access to employment, government financial assistance, free health services and property ownership privileges). Gallery References External links The impact of the global food crisis on Azerbaijan - in pictures State Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan on Deals of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) Danish Refugee Council Ethnic cleansing in Asia Ethnic cleansing in Europe Society of Azerbaijan Anti-Azerbaijanism