Baku, Azerbaijan, July 8
By Ilkin Izzet - Trend:
The head of the Armenian delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Artashes Geghamyan has voted for the resolution on territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.
After the session , Armenian media outlets wrote about diplomatic ignorance of Geghamyan, and the fact that he always "loses" to the Azerbaijani side.
A resolution on territorial integrity, sovereignty and inviolability of Azerbaijan's borders has been recently adopted at the summer session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. The author of the resolution "Adherence to the Helsinki principles in the interstate relations across the OSCE area" is Azay Guliyev, the Azerbaijani MP, the deputy chairman of the Committee on Political Affairs and Security of the OSCE PA.
However, it was said at a meeting July 8 that one of the proposals on changing the resolution was forgotten during the discussions. This proposal was accepted by the Secretariat of the Bureau and submitted for discussion. Such case happens in the history of the OSCE PA for the first time.
The head of the Armenian delegation to the OSCE PA Artashes Geghamyan made unsubstantiated proposals to reject the resolution during the discussions July 8, however the European MPs did not support them.
Azay Guliyev has introduced the "forgotten" proposal for discussion, and after that a new voting on the resolution took place. Following the voting, the resolution gained even more votes July 8 and was adopted.
The resolution reflects deep concern over the conflicts on the territories of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova. It emphasizes the importance of resolving conflicts based on the principle of territorial integrity, sovereignty and inviolability of state borders.
The resolution said that the conflicting sides should fulfill the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council. It also highlighted the necessity of unconditional return of Azerbaijani, Georgian, Moldavian and Ukrainian IDPs to their native lands.
One of the most important articles of the resolution said that the peoples' right to self-determination is unacceptable at the expense of a country's territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence.
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.
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