Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept.26 / Trend, T.Hajiyev /
Numerous decisions and resolutions of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on the aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan and support of the OIC Member States have been instrumental in addressing the occupation of the territories of Azerbaijan by the international community, in particular by the UN General Assembly and the Security Council. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov made this statement at the Annual Coordination Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Member States of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation within the 66th session of the UN General Assembly in New York (USA).
"The Government of Azerbaijan remains committed to the peaceful settlement of this protracted conflict based on the respect for the norms and principles of international law, implementation of the relevant UN Security Council and OIC resolutions as well as appropriate documents and decisions adopted by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Council of Europe and European Parliament," he said.
Mammadyarov said Azerbaijan encourages all Member States to maintain their efforts to achieve settlement of the conflicts in the Islamic world based on the norms and principles of international law.
"We remain concerned over the situation in Palestine. Azerbaijan reiterates its strong support to brotherly people of Palestine and their efforts to achieve peace, stability, and establishment of a sovereign and independent Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital and fully support Palestine aspiration to be a full-fledged member of the United Nations. We highly value the work of the OIC Secretary General and his staff to consolidate our Organization in providing much needed assistance to population in Palestine," he said.
Mammadyarov also said Azerbaijan is deeply concerned with the humanitarian situation in Somali.
"Horrible famine and drought affected vast parts of the country, resulting tens of thousands of deaths and massive exodus of hundreds of thousands of Somalians to neighbouring countries. According to latest UN report some 12 million people still remain in crisis, with 750000 people in dire risk of death. This is an unprecedented tragedy that humanity had faced in the last 100 years and all nations of the world share sacred duty to contribute to the elimination of the harsh consequences of this tragedy," he underlined.
Mammadyarov stressed that in this regard the full potential of the OIC and the Muslim states should be realized to provide so badly needed aid and assistance to prevent humanitarian disaster in Somali.
"Azerbaijan has already provided humanitarian aid to this brotherly country. In recent years Azerbaijan has continued its active participation in humanitarian assistance programmers to a number of the OIC Member States carried out through the OIC and UN frameworks, and we will further continue these efforts," he added.
"Global challenges require global responses. The United Nations is best suited to meet the former and provide the latter. To do so in the most efficient way, the UN needs to be reformed and strengthened to fulfil its mandate and cope with traditional and emerging risks and threats," he said.
Mammadyarov said in his statement that the UN Security Council reform presents significant concern to all Member States. The OIC has a legitimate demand for being represented in the Security Council to defend and promote the interests of Muslim countries.
"We support comprehensive reform of the Security Council to make it more representative, democratic, effective, transparent and accountable to the UN Members," he underlined.
"Azerbaijan has put forward its candidacy for a non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council, for the term of 2012-2013, at the elections to be held in 2011 at the 66th session of the UN General Assembly. Proceeding from the importance of representing the OIC in the Security Council we rely on the continued support by the Member States to the candidacy of Azerbaijan," Mammadyarov said.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 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 the 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.