Statements of Karabakh's Azerbaijani community circulated as UN document

By Azernews

By Akbar Mammadov

Statements of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Azerbaijani Community on recent cease-fire violations by Armenia and illegal “elections” staged in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan have been circulated as UN General Assembly and Security Council documents, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said on April 15.

The letter dated April 13 written by Yashar Aliyev, the Permament Representative of Azerbaijan to the United Nations (UN), has been addressed to Secretary-General.

It should be noted that the letter has been circulated as UN General Assembly and Security Council documents under agenda items 32 and 37 under titles “Protracted conflicts in the GUAM area and their implications for international peace, security and development” and “The situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan”.

In addition, the statement by the Azerbaijani Community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan on the so-called “elections” held in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan has also been annexed to the letter.

It should be noted that the illegal elections held in occupied Nagorno-Krarabakh in two rounds – on March 31 and April 14 – have drawn international condemnation.

A number of other countries, including France, Germany, Turkey, UK, Canada, Australia, Norway, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Latvia, Ukraine, Estonia, as well as major international organizations such as the EU, NATO, OSCE, OIC, GUAM, Visegrad Group, TURKPA have recently reiterated their support for Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and condemned the illegal elections held in in Karabakh on March 31.

Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a conflict over Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh breakaway region, which along with seven adjacent regions was occupied by Armenian forces in a war in the early 1990s. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and around one million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France has been mediating the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict since the signing of the volatile cease-fire agreement in 1994. The Minsk Group’s efforts have resulted in no progress and to this date, Armenia has failed to abide by the UN Security Council resolutions (822, 853, 874 and 884) that demand the withdrawal of Armenian military forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.