GUAM urges to solve conflicts based on states’ territorial integrity

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

Conflicts in the GUAM area should be solved based on sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of internationally recognized borders of states, says the final statement of the heads of governments of the GUAM member states.

The statement was adopted at the summit of the heads of governments of the member states of the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development – GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova) in Kiev on March 27

The GUAM format was created by post-Soviet states in 1997 during the summit of heads of the EU states in Strasbourg. In 1999, Uzbekistan joined the format and four years later withdrew.

“Expressing deep concern over the conflicts, continuing in the territories of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, undermining sovereignty and territorial integrity and impeding the sustainable development of GUAM member states, we reaffirm our commitment for their speedy settlement on the basis of sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of the internationally recognized borders of states,” says the statement.

The government heads of the GUAM member states reaffirmed their commitment to the decisions, resolutions and documents adopted at the GUAM summits, as well as the norms and principles of international law enshrined in the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act.

Azerbaijan and Armenia for over two decades have been locked in conflict, which emerged over Armenian territorial claims to Azerbaijan. Since the 1990s war, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.

The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal from the occupied lands of Azerbaijan, but they have not been enforced to this day.

While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign State with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.