Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 10
By Seba Aghayeva - Trend:
Armenia's hysteria with regards to the report prepared by the member of the Political Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Robert Walter and adopted resolution by the Committee is the vivid demonstration of its particular concern and panic, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hikmat Hajiyev told Trend Nov. 10.
He said that it is yet another testimony of Armenia's fear of the just and fair approach of the international community towards Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution.
In a draft resolution approved Nov.4, the PACE Political Affairs Committee called for the withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and the other occupied territories of Azerbaijan. It also called for the establishment of full sovereignty of Azerbaijan in these territories, in the framework of the OSCE Minsk process.
"Aforementioned report was also a subject of discussion at the joint press conference of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Russia in Yerevan November 9," Hajiyev said. "We stand in line with the view expressed at the press conference that OSCE MG acts on the basis of agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan approved by the relevant UN Security Council resolutions (822, 853, 874, 884) for the settlement of the conflict."
"OSCE document dated 23 March 1995 numbering 525/95 on the mandate of the OSCE MG Co-Chairs also endorsed that Co-Chairs in their activities should be guided by the appropriate resolutions of the UN SC (822, 853, 874, 884), the Charter of the United Nations and the OSCE Budapest Summit decisions and should present report on the implementation of the UN SC resolutions to the President of the UN SC and the Secretary General of the United Nations," Hajiyev said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan repeatedly expressed its dissatisfaction that the OSCE MG Co-Chairs has so far failed to fulfill the mandate entrusted by the UN SC, said the foreign ministry spokesman, noting with regret the continuing attempts to preserve the status quo of the conflict.
"Within the period of more than 20 years OSCE MG Co-Chairs did not yield any progress in the resolution of the conflict, figuratively speaking, not even a single soldier of Armenian armed forces left the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and also not even a single refugee and IDPs returned to the homes of their origin," he said.
"Azerbaijan continues its practice and activity on informing the international organizations and world community about Armenian aggression, occupation of its territories, notorious ethnic cleansing on its seized lands and blatant violation of norms and principles of international law," Hajiyev said.
OSCE MG Co-Chairs must intensify their efforts to reach the breakthrough on the peace talks as they were instructed by above-mentioned UN SC resolutions and presidents of their respective countries in their joint statements, according to Hajiyev.
"Azerbaijan by all means will ensure restoration of its territorial integrity and sovereignty within its internationally recognized borders," he said.
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 two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
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