Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.14
By Sabina Ahmadova - Trend:
The Senate of the U.S. State of New Mexico adopted a resolution dedicated to Azerbaijan on February 13, 2014, the Azerbaijani Consulate General in Los Angeles told Trend on Feb. 14.
The resolution notes that the United States supports Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and sovereignty, and the international community does not recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent entity.
The OSCE Minsk Group is tasked to facilitate negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan toward a political settlement of the conflict based on the principles and norms of international law and the decisions and documents adopted by the OSCE and the applicable UN Security Council resolutions, according to the resolution.
In this regard, the resolution stresses that the "UN Security Council in its resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 reaffirmed support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and demanded the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of all Armenian forces from all of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan."
The international community, including such international organizations as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Non-Aligned Movement, reaffirmed support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan and recognized that the conflict should be resolved on the basis of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan within its internationally recognized borders, according to the resolution.
Given the afore-mentioned, the state legislators request the U.S. Administration to reinvigorate efforts aimed at a swift and just settlement of the conflict.
It is noteworthy that this is the second resolution on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict adopted in the U.S. in 2014. A similar resolution was adopted on January 30 by the Arizona State Legislature supporting Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. In 2013, the New Mexico Legislature adopted a resolution remembering the victims of the Khojaly Massacre committed by Armenia in 1992 against Azerbaijani civilians.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the
liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.