Foreign

Home page

Foreign

UN Secretary General makes report on â€œThe Situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijanâ€ - EXCLUSIVE

UN Secretary General makes report on â€œThe Situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijanâ€ - <font color=red>EXCLUSIVE </font>

01 May 2009 08:16 (UTC +04:00)

Reply received from the United States of America, on behalf of the three Co-Chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group (France, Russian Federation, United States) reads: â€œAs we noted in our explanation of vote on General Assembly resolution 62/243 on 14 March 2008, our three countries had jointly proposed to the two parties a set of basic principles for the peaceful settlement of the conflict on the margins of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Madrid in November 2007. Those basic principles were founded on the provision of the Helsinki Final Act, including those related to refraining from the threat or use of force, the territorial integrity of States, and the equal rights and self-determination of peoples. The proposal transmitted to the two sides in Madrid comprised a balanced package of principles that was then, and is still currently, under negotiation. Our countries viewed resolution 62/243 as selectively propagating only certain of those principles to the exclusion of others, without considering the Co-Chairsâ€™ proposal in its balanced entirety. This lack of balance forced our countries to vote against the resolution, much to our regret. Nevertheless, in our explanation of vote, and again today, we reaffirm our support for the territorial integrity of Azerbaijanâ€.

The second interesting point is that the Co-Chairs didnâ€™t offer univocal support to the self-determination right of the peoples. â€œThe basic principles our countries proposed to both parties in Madrid, and thereby establish the framework for a comprehensive settlement that also incorporates the principles of self-determination and non-use of force in a mutually acceptable wayâ€.

â€œThese official proposals of the Co-Chairs are commonly referred to now as the â€œMadrid documentâ€. The Co-Chairs explained from the beginning, that this document was not an ultimatumâ€, said the United States in its reply on behalf of the three Co-Chair countries.

Armenia noted in its reply submitted to UN Secretary General regarding the report on â€œThe occupied territories of Azerbaijanâ€ that the majority of the United Nations Member States, did not support the Resolution 62/243 in 2008 and the agreement to accept the Madrid principles as a basis for negotiations was reached only on 6 June 2008, at the St. Petersburg meeting of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan said in its reply submitted to UN Secretary General that the resolution adopted at 62nd session of the General Assembly makes its serious positive recommendation to the solution of Nagorny Karabakh conflict. The Republic of Azerbaijan wished to stress that the General Assembly, in its resolution 62/243, reaffirmed the continued respect and support of the Assembly to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan, demanded the immediate withdrawal of all Armenian forces from all occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan, further reaffirmed the inalienable right of the population expelled from the occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan to return to their homes in safety and dignity, the Assembly comprehensively addressed the issue of illegal settlements conducted by Armenia in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

Then 10 member states expressed their opinion on the situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. Belarus, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Slovakia, Sudan, Turkey and Ukraine supported the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Indonesia submitted its reply on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

The UN Secretary Generalâ€™s report will be discussed at the 63rd session of the General Assembly. This report alongside with other 4 documents submitted by Azerbaijan to UN will keep the Nagorny Karabakh conflict on UN agenda.