Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 29
Trend:
Deputy Chairman of the Armenian parliament, Eduard Sharmazanov, is apparently trying to follow the path of Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan in making false statements, said Spokesman of Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Hikmat Hajiyev.
He was responding to Trend’s questions about the recent statements of Eduard Sharmazanov.
"In his every statement Sharmazanov shows his legal and political illiteracy and that he is engaged in populism aimed at only a limited domestic audience," noted Hajiyev.
“In international law, the uti possidetis (as you possess) principle determines that in case if a state gains independence, its existing borders must be respected,” he said. “This principle was applied regarding the borders of the former USSR republics, which became independent after the collapse of the Union, including the Azerbaijan and Armenia SSRs. On July 18, 1988, the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the USSR once again confirmed that Nagorno-Karabakh remains a part of the Azerbaijan SSR. On Jan. 10, 1990, the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the USSR, on the basis of the Constitution of the USSR, deemed the decisions of the Supreme Council of the Armenia SSR, dated Dec. 1, 1989 and Jan. 9, 1990, on the annexation of Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia as illegal.”
“After ethnic cleansing, as a result of aggressive separatism, against the indigenous Azerbaijani population living in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of the Azerbaijan SSR, an illegal and illegitimate “referendum” was held on Dec. 10, 1991 with the participation of only the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh,” Hajiyev noted. “The USSR 'Law on the procedure for resolving the issues related to withdrawal of a union republic from the USSR', dated April 3, 1990, to which Armenia tries to refer unreasonably, determined special procedures for the separation of republics.”
“In accordance with the Almaty Declaration, dated Dec. 21, 1991, on the establishment of the CIS, Armenia and Azerbaijan as former republics of the USSR accepted the obligation to respect the territorial integrity and to recognize the inviolability of each other’s borders,” Hajiyev said. “Now Armenia is trying to deny this commitment. Armenia’s claims to the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan have no historical, legal, political and moral grounds. The illegal regime created in the Armenian-occupied territories of Azerbaijan is a result of aggression, occupation and bloody ethnic cleansing. Sharmazanov and the likes must finally understand that the civilized world can never recognize a situation that emerged as a result of the use of force as legitimate. The sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan will be ensured within the internationally recognized borders.”
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.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.