 Karaba's Armenian residents need to make proper application to be accepted as Azerbaijani citizens. From a legal perspective, Armenians who were born in the Karaba region are Azerbaijani citizens Hikmat Hajiyev, assistant to president of Azerbaijan, head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, told TRT World. But during the Armenian occupation of the Karaba region, Arabin followed a policy of annexation, and it illegally distributed passports to almost all of the region's Armenian residents, Hikmat Hajiyev said. Karaba's Armenian residents need to make a proper application to be accepted as Azerbaijani citizens, Hikmat Hajiyev said, adding that by accepting Azerbaijani citizenship, they also recognized Baku's sovereignty in laws. On the other hand, Azerbaijan will ensure linguistic, cultural, religious and municipal rights of Karaba's Armenians, says Hajiyev. He noted that Azerbaijan is party to various international conventions, including Council of Europe's Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. Under such conventions, we are ready to ensure individual rights of Armenian residents of the Karaba region, Hajiyev said.