Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 14
By Elmira Tariverdiyeva – Trend:
Azerbaijan regrets that during the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM), some delegations once again misused their participation for promotion and propaganda of the illegal separatist regime established by Armenia in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, said Azerbaijani delegation at the OSCE Permanent Council’s special meeting.
“It has been internationally recognized that this regime is the product of illegal use of force against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan accompanied by heinous crimes, including ethnic cleansing, war crimes and crimes against humanity,” said the delegation in its statement.
“In this context, the participation of an NGO associated with and actively promoting the illegal separatist regime can by no means be in line with the principles that the OSCE stands for and therefore, diametrically contrary to the very aim of HDIM,” says the statement.
“Azerbaijan feels compelled to remind that in accordance with OSCE Helsinki Document of 1992, non-governmental organizations, which ‘resort to the use of violence or publicly condone terrorism or the use of violence’, won’t be allowed to participate in the OSCE events,” according to the statement.
“In light of the abovementioned, we reiterate that admission of NGOs propagating separatism to HDIMs is unacceptable and must be ceased,” says the statement. “Otherwise, this will further undermine the very credibility of this event.”
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.