Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept.29
Trend:
Azerbaijan has always paid great attention to humanitarian cooperation, said Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev during the fifth Baku International Humanitarian Forum Sept.29.
“But I would like the guests to know that our country itself has faced a humanitarian disaster. Twenty percent of our lands have been occupied as a result of the armed aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan in early 1990s. More than a million Azerbaijanis became refugees and IDPs on their native lands as a result of this occupation and ethic cleansing,” said the president. “Our historic and native land Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts have been occupied by Armenia.”
“Innocent people were killed and a military crime – Khojaly genocide was committed against our people,” he said, adding that 613 civilians, including 106 women and 63 children were killed in the city of Khojaly as a result of the genocide.
“All these atrocities committed by Armenians have been documented. There are video and photo materials and witness testimonies,” said President Aliyev.
The president pointed out that ten countries have recognized the Khojaly genocide.
“Our historical, religious monuments have been destroyed by Armenians on the occupied lands and there are facts to back it up. In connection with this, the OSCE has sent a fact-finding mission to the occupied territories twice and this is openly indicated in their reports,” he added.
“The entire infrastructure, the cities have been destroyed and graves have been razed to the ground. They have destroyed our graves with bulldozers. Our mosques have been destroyed,” said President Aliyev.
“There is an Armenian church in the center of Baku and we have restored that church. Currently, more than 5,000 books in Armenian language are kept in this church,” he said. “This is while they raze our mosques to the ground. This is the difference.”
Armenian fascism has caused a big disaster and innocent people still suffer from the Armenian policy, said the president.
“All international organizations unequivocally support our position. In particular, the UN General Assembly, which is the first and highest international body in the world, has repeatedly adopted resolutions. The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions demanding the unconditional and immediate withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the occupied lands,” said President Aliyev.
Regretfully, Armenia ignores these resolutions and there is no mechanism for fulfilling the resolutions, said the president, adding that this is a great injustice.
“We consider this as a policy of double standards, because in some cases, the resolutions of the UN Security Council are fulfilled in several days and perhaps, in several hours and the aggressor is punished,” he said. “But when it comes to us, although more than 20 years have passed since the adoption of the resolutions, they are not fulfilled. Those who have adopted these resolutions do not demand their fulfillment.”
President Aliyev added that other international organizations, such as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, European Parliament, Non-Aligned Movement and OSCE have also adopted decisions on this issue.
“That’s to say, all international organizations support our position. Nagorno-Karabakh is an integral, historical part of Azerbaijan. At the same time, Nagorno-Karabakh is an integral part of Azerbaijan in accordance with the international law,” said the president.
“The territorial integrity of our country should be restored. Our country’s territorial integrity is not less important than that of any other country. The international law should be ensured,” added President Aliyev. “Despite this problem, our country is developing confidently and we are growing stronger.”