Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 17
By Elchin Mehdiyev – Trend:
Azerbaijan has every right to control its sovereign territory, said former Bulgarian president Rosen Plevneliev, who is taking part in the 5th Global Baku Forum.
Plevneliev made the remarks while commenting on the process of settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
“Azerbaijan has its sovereign territory, and it has every right to control it. International laws must be applied to Armenia, and we call on Armenia to comply with UN Security Council resolutions and withdraw its armed forces from the occupied territories,” said Plevneliev. “We call on Armenia to respect the norms of international law.”
“We all want peace,” he noted, when international laws are applied to everyone without exception, when there is respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries, it becomes possible to achieve peace.
On the contrary, when small and great states don’t comply with international law and violate the sovereignty of other countries, it becomes impossible to achieve peace, added the former Bulgarian president.
Plevneliev noted that the people and leadership of Azerbaijan quite fairly note the existence of double standards.
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.