BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 5. Significant progress has been achieved in region in the context of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, said Jeyhun Bayramov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Trend reports.
Speaking at the 31st Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the minister noted that today's meeting of the Ministerial Council comes at a particularly challenging time.
"Violations of international law and misinterpretation and selective application of international commitments lie at the heart of the erosion of trust and confidence and the continued crisis of multilateralism. In the meantime, security and stability are under threat due to growing transnational challenges that know no borders and dictate multilateral solutions.
Rising ethnic and religious intolerance and discrimination, such as Islamophobia and anti-Semitism in Europe, is alarming. It is urgent for respective OSCE participating states to honor their relevant OSCE commitments and international obligations.
Respect and adherence to the fundamental norms, principles, and commitments enshrined in the OSCE documents, starting from the Helsinki Final Act, in particular respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and inviolability of borders of states, must remain the bedrock of security and peace, as well as the basis for dialogue and cooperation.
Azerbaijan remains a strong proponent of effective multilateralism, including through the OSCE, and calls for constructive engagement in finding a settlement to issues pertinent to OSCE’s functionality, such as the earliest adoption of the budget and settlement of the deadlock around the issue of appointment of the Secretary General and heads of executive structures," the minister said.
The foreign minister stated that the organization's limited resources should be allocated to areas of greatest need, prioritizing program activities with current consensus, in full compliance with OSCE Financial Regulations.
"OSCE structures related to the former Minsk process have become obsolete and irrelevant. Retaining these structures on paper violates financial regulations of the organization. Accordingly, this situation needs to be rectified within the budget process.
While OSCE is held hostage to malicious ambitions, significant strides have been taken on the ground in the Armenia-Azerbaijan context. Finally, peace has essentially been established with the elimination of illegal military deployment and restoration of Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. This has created substantially new conditions to pave the way for interstate normalization.
Since the last Ministerial Council meeting, Azerbaijan and Armenia completed delimitation and demarcation of some portion of their borders through direct bilateral dialogue. With its recent entry into force, the regulation regarding the joint activities of the respective border commissions will guide efforts to carry out the next phases of the delimitation work. On a separate track, significant progress was also registered with respect to the text of the draft bilateral agreement.
These achievements vividly demonstrate that direct bilateral negotiations are the best and the only viable way for moving forward in the normalization process, which has been consistently advocated for by Azerbaijan.
Notwithstanding the progress, there are persistent challenges on the path of normalization. Its finalization depends on implementing in action Armenia’s declared commitment to respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan, including by removing territorial claims still embedded in its Constitution and other legislative acts.
Establishment of peace and good-neighborly relations cannot be sustainable and irreversible if recognition of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan continues to be questioned in Armenia’s Constitution, and implementation of the bilateral agreement by Armenia remains contingent on domestic legal or political scenarios.
At this critical juncture, when there is a historic opportunity for Azerbaijan and Armenia to turn the page of confrontation and establish good-neighborly relations, all efforts must be directed at finalizing the normalization process on the basis of mutual respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Azerbaijan’s determination in this respect is intact, and we expect reciprocal political will and responsibility on the part of Armenia.
In the meantime, the wider international community also bears responsibility not to harm the ongoing process by refraining from provocative actions and fueling tension, including here in the OSCE.
Before concluding, I reiterate the readiness of Azerbaijan for constructive engagement within the OSCE in overcoming the existing challenges to its functionality and efficiency," the minister concluded.