TODAY.AZ / Politics

MP: Double approach unacceptable in resolving protracted conflicts in OSCE area

06 July 2019 [10:53] - TODAY.AZ

By Trend


As part of the 28th Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly taking place in Luxembourg, a meeting of its General Committee on Political Affairs and Security was held, Trend reports.

Azerbaijani MP, OSCE PA Vice President Azay Guliyev spoke during the discussion of the report by the rapporteur of the committee, Irish MP Alan Farrell and the draft resolution.

The OSCE PA vice president focused on the 10th paragraph of the draft resolution on the issue of the occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and seven adjacent districts.

Azay Guliyev thanked the rapporteur for recognizing that the condition for durable stability, security and peace in the region is the settlement of frozen conflicts throughout the OSCE area, including the conflict related to the occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and seven adjacent districts.

Guliyev supported the speaker that the four resolutions of the UN Security Council and the declarations of the OSCE PA create legal basis for the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

“In general, the resolution of all conflicts in the territory of the OSCE member states, without exception, should be among the priorities on the agenda of the OSCE and its Parliamentary Assembly,” the Azerbaijani MP said. “Also, in accordance with the relevant OSCE documents and decisions regarding protracted conflicts, all OSCE principles and commitments should be applied equally. The unequal approach to such issues leads to the recognition that power is above the norms of international law, and ultimately to the violation of the OSCE principles and commitments. I would like to remind that the reference (of the rapporteur) in this format to the conflict fully corresponds to the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.”

Guliyev stressed the inadmissibility of changing the name of the conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and seven separate districts, which in no way serves to restoring peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan and bringing the parties closer together.

To substantiate his position, Guliyev drew the MPs’ attention to three issues.

“First, the initial version of the name corresponds to the OSCE decision adopted in 1992 on the conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and four UNSC resolutions, in which the name of the conflict is listed as “in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and in surrounding areas”, he added. “Secondly, in May 1992, the conflict turned into a full-scale intervention by the Armenian armed forces in Azerbaijan and the occupation of not only the Nagorno-Karabakh region, but also seven adjacent districts, and after the occupation of each district, the UN Security Council was adopting one resolution after another, which condemned the occupation of the Azerbaijani territories and required the immediate, unconditional and complete withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the occupied territories. Thus, after these resolutions, we cannot call the conflict only as the “Nagorno-Karabakh conflict”, because this conflict went beyond the region; in fact, the area of territories occupied and affected by the conflict and their population in several times exceed the Nagorno-Karabakh.”

The OSCE PA Vice President reminded that the population of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, together with the Azerbaijanis who were expelled from their homes, makes 180,000 people, the territory of the region is 4,400 square meters, while the population of seven adjacent districts is 850,000 people, and the territory is 11,000 square meters.

“Thirdly, as enshrined in the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly resolutions, as well as by OSCE decisions, the Nagorno-Karabakh region is an integral part of Azerbaijan,” he added. “In accordance with international law, occupation is a temporary phenomenon and cannot lead to the transfer of sovereignty.”

Guliyev expressed hope that members of the assembly will support the original version of the 10th paragraph.

“We cannot allow the resolution of conflicts that have been protracted in the territories of Georgia, Azerbaijan, Moldova and Ukraine to have any exceptions or double approaches,” Guliyev concluded.

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 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.

URL: http://www.today.az/news/politics/184200.html

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