Details added (first version posted at 11:15)
Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 19
Trend:
The OSCE Minsk Group and Armenia must take into account the position of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) on the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Hikmat Hajiyev, spokesman for the Azerbaijani foreign ministry, told Trend Sept. 19.
The Final Document was adopted at the 17th NAM Summit of Heads of State and Government held in Venezuela on September 13 – 18, 2016.
“In the final document, the NAM member-states called for the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in accordance with the UN Security Council’s resolutions and within the territorial integrity, sovereignty and internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan,” Hajiyev added.
“After Azerbaijan joined NAM, the position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is constantly reflected in all documents which are being adopted at the level of heads of state and foreign ministers of the NAM member-states,” Hajiyev said.
"This is the international community’s single and firm position to resolve the conflict,” he added.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Hajiyev added that one of the main points of the summit is NAM’s position on the principle of self-determination of peoples, reflected in the final document of the summit.
“The NAM member-states mainly consider the principle of self-determination of peoples in the context of decolonization and the fight against colonization in accordance with the UN Charter,” Hajiyev said.
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is an international organization bringing together 120 countries on the principles of non-participation in military blocs. The NAM was officially founded by 25 states at the Belgrade Conference in September 1961.
Azerbaijan became a NAM full member in 2011.