Azerbaijan, Baku, December 21 / Trend , S.Agayeva /
Official Baku considers that the UN General Assembly's resolution on the People's Universal Right to Self Determination meets the interests of Azerbaijan.
"Azerbaijan has participated in preparing the resolution on the People's Universal Right to Self Determination, but the resolution does not reflect anything about self-determination at the expense of the territories of independent states, but vice-versa the paper openly states that the military intervention, aggression and acts of occupation and violation of human rights as a result of this, including the violation of the right to self-determination, are completely contrary," Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elkhan Polukhov told Trend on Dec. 21.
During its 64th session on Dec. 18, the UN General Assembly without voting adopted the resolution on the People's Universal Right to Self Determination.
In addition, Polukhov said the resolution expresses concerns over the facts where the states maintain the territories of other countries under occupation through military aggression and due to it, have resorted to occupation, discrimination and other acts violating human dignity.
According to him, the paper also expressed concern over one million refugees and internally displaced persons. Given all these, the resolution can be assessed as meeting the interests of Azerbaijan, said Polukhov.
"We recognize the right to self-determination, but it can be realized only within the territorial integrity of states," said Foreign Ministry spokesman.
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. General Assembly's resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the occupied territories.