Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 23
By Elchin Mehdiyev – Trend:
According to the UN Charter and the corresponding procedural rules of the organization, each member has the right to distribute documents to bring information, which is of interest from the point of view of the government of the member-state, to the attention of other member-states and the secretariat of the organization, Chairman of the Azerbaijani Center for International Relations Analysis Farid Shafiyev said.
Shafiyev made the remarks regarding the distribution of a report of the self-proclaimed regime in Nagorno-Karabakh region by Armenia in the UN, Trend reports on Aug. 23.
The appeal on behalf of the permanent missions of UN member-states includes various issues related to the international events and security, trade, development, culture and others.
The member-state that distributed the document is responsible for the content of the document. There have been such cases when permanent missions even distributed poems as a UN document.
"In turn, the secretariat is obliged to distribute letters submitted by the permanent missions of UN member-states,” Shafiyev said. “The documents are classified by the organization and within the agenda item of the next session of the Security Council, General Assembly and other UN bodies. The agenda item is determined by the author of the letter, that is, permanent representation of a member-state.”
“Unfortunately, member-states often abuse this right and distribute documents even contrary to the UN Charter,” he said. “In particular, Armenia has repeatedly sent "NKR" letters on its behalf. In any case, the author of the letter is considered an official member of the organization, that is, in this case, Armenia. The information circulated in the Armenian media that the so-called “NKR” document was distributed as a UN document is false. The UN does not recognize "NKR" and the secretariat of the organization, in accordance with the rules, distributed a letter of the permanent mission of Armenia to the UN. This is its official status."
As for the content of the letter, Shafiyev commented on it briefly.
"How can one talk about sustainable development, democracy or humanitarian goals in the occupied territory, where Armenia carried out ethnic cleansing of the indigenous Azerbaijani population and continues to violate the Security Council’s corresponding resolutions and UN Charter?" he asked.
“Azerbaijan also intends to distribute a letter in the UN,” Shafiyev said. “This provocation of the permanent mission of Armenia to the UN once again demonstrates who is actually the occupier of the internationally recognized Azerbaijani territories."
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, 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 Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.