Azerbaijan, Baku, 2 April /corr. Trend E.Huseynli / The head of Azerbaijani Community of Nagorno-Karabakh considers that the countries which do not keep the norms of international law should leave the co-chairmanship to OSCE Minsk Group. "The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairman countries have frozen the activity of Minsk Group," Nizami Bahmanov, head of the Azerbaijani Community of Nagorno-Karabakh, reported to Trend on 2 April.
During its 62nd session, the UN General Assembly adopted a Resolution on 'the Situation in Occupied Territories of Azerbaijan'. The Resolution requires complete and unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from occupied territories of Azerbaijan.
OSCE Minsk Group co-chairman countries ( Russia, France and the USA), who are the mediators for peaceful settlement of the conflict, voted against the Resolution. The OSCE Minsk Group considers that the Resolution presents threats for the peaceful settlement of the conflict.
Baku considers that opposing the Resolution, the co-chairmen brought themselves to a difficult situation. Azerbaijan recently appealed to the OSCE Secretariat in Vienna to know the procedures of appointing and recalling the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group.
Bahmanov said that during the voting for the Resolution at the 62nd session of the UN General Assembly, the mediator countries had to stay neutral. "Voting against the UN Resolution, which leans on the norms of international law, the co-chairmen countries made a serious mistake," he said adding that Minsk format satisfies Azerbaijan. According to Bahmanov, all 13 countries who are members of the Minsk Group should be active in the negotiations process, and the co-chairman countries should consult with them before making any decisions.
The OSCE Minsk Group includes Germany, Turkey, Czech Republic, Belarus, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Russia, France, USA, Italy, Holland and Portugal.
Bahmanov said that the co-chairmen pushed aside the Minsk Group member-countries, and therefore, its activities paralyzed. "The Community's position is that the activity of Minsk Group has paralyzed, therefore all the member-countries should participate in the negotiations process," he added.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries appeared in 1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenia has occupied 20% of the Azerbaijani lands including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven neighboring districts. Since 1992 to the present time, these territories have been under Armenian occupation. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a cease-fire agreement at which time the active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group ( Russia, France and USA) are holding peaceful negotiations.
The correspondent can be contacted at: [email protected]