Baku, Azerbaijan, April 8
Trend:
The crisis in Ukraine, the report and resolutions prepared by the committees for their presentation at the 23rd annual session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly be held in Baku, the action plan prepared by Switzerland chairing in the OSCE were discussed at a meeting of the OSCE PA Bureau in Copenhagen, the Azerbaijani parliament told Trend on April 8.
MP, member of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly bureau member, deputy chairman of the general committee on security and political issues of the organization Azay Guliyev delivered a speech at the meeting.
While talking about the situation in Ukraine, Guliyev stood for the territorial integrity and the internationally recognized borders of this country.
Guliyev stressed that international organizations are greatly responsible for the current crisis situation.
"If the OSCE and other international organizations had achieved the timely and fair settlement of the inter-state conflicts existing in the region, and in particular the Armenian- Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and ensured the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan by making the categorical decisions, we would not have witnessed the current situation," he said. "At present, many people talk about gross violation of international law. But unfortunately, despite the fact that we have been talking about this for over 20 years, no one pays any attention to it."
"The current tense situation is a test for the OSCE," he added. "It is necessary to prepare a roadmap and to take bold decisions to cope with the situation."
Guliyev proposed to add two important points to the draft resolution prepared by the rapporteur of the OSCE PA Committee on Security and Political Affairs Pia Kauma.
He proposed the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly express its attitude to the attempts to give legitimacy to the so-called referendums held with one country's purpose of occupying another country's territory under the guise of ensuring the right of peoples to self-determination.
"If one looks at the history of all conflicts in the OSCE area, one will see that they all have started with fake referendums," he said. "The OSCE must openly stress that such referendums must be held as part of the constitution and the laws of the member-states and to prevent the separatist activity.
Guliyev's second proposal is to indicate the importance of the OSCE member-states' respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of each other in a separate item of the resolution.
While stressing Switzerland's chairmanship in the OSCE, Guliyev emphasized the importance of cooperation with the institutes of the civil society to solve the existing problems and improve the role of the countries' parliaments in this process.
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 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 the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
translated by NH
edited by CN