Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 23 / Trend E. Mehdiyev /
The Azerbaijani opposition and the ruling party have the same positions on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. There is no disagreement in this regard, Deputy Executive Secretary of the New Azerbaijan party, MP Mubariz Gurbanli said at the seventh General Assembly of the International Conference of Asian political parties today.
He said that there are many regions and countries having problems which occurred as a result of separatism, chauvinism, terrorism and all kinds of phobias, including Islamophobia. Gurbanli said that removing these problems will bring people closer.
"Azerbaijan is a democratic country that has never made territorial claims against any country," he said. "Today, there are about 8000 people, nations and only 193 UN member states. If all nations demand self-determination, then the world would be plunged into chaos, so each issue must be objectively examined."
He said that self-determination of each nation must not be confined to national separatism and chauvinism No nation must make claims against its neighbours during self-determination.
Gurbanli said he was not going to touch on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict but he was forced to discuss it after the Armenian party Heritage leader Raffi Hovhannisyan, reiterated the need to recognise the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh. Unfortunately, neighbouring Armenia chose the wrong path, Gurbanli said.
"Azerbaijan will not give any country an inch of its land," he said. "We want to restore historical justice. The UN Security Council was created to save the world. Every country must respect the decisions taken by this organisation. There are four UN resolutions, as well as documents adopted by the EU and the OSCE which condemn Armenia in terms of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue."
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven 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 peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.