Azerbaijan raises issue of illegal armament of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh in UN

"Armenia had built up its military presence, with data showing a growing number of uncontrolled arms, including 316 tanks, 324 armoured vehicles and 322 artillery systems in the occupied territories, exceeding its maximum levels", deputy chairman of the committee, first secretary of Azerbaijani permanent office in UN, Ogtay Ismayilzade, said.

"Armenia's aggression had led to the occupation of one-fifth of Azerbaijan's territory, triggering the internal displacement of 1 million people, and of war crimes and genocide.  Armenia had used the occupied territories to hide great numbers of unaccounted and uncontrolled treaty-limited equipment from the "CFE" community, endangering the security of Azerbaijan and the stable development of the whole region," he said.

Other representatives noticed that peace and security could only be achieved with strong regional action and strict compliance with existing arms agreements; otherwise the present arms races would erect stumbling blocks along the road to stability around the world.

Ismayilzade said, unfortunately, unlawful use of force still plagued certain States, and civilian populations were suffering around the world, owing to the failure of individual States to fulfill their most basic responsibilities.

"Armenia had blamed Azerbaijan for increasing its military budget and for violations of arms limitation norms, but it had failed to mention Azerbaijan's defense spending, conformed to overall budget increases," he said.

"Azerbaijan spent 3.26 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on the army, compared with Armenia's 3.86 per cent.  Despite being in a state of war, Azerbaijan was continuing to fulfill commitments under the CFE Treaty, reducing and destroying more than 150 treaty-limited armaments and equipment over the last five years, in line with the Tashkent Agreement. Azerbaijan aimed to liberate all occupied territories, return internally displaced persons to their homes and establish a durable peace and stability in the Nagorno-Karabakh region," he said.

/Trend News/