Foreign

Home page

Foreign

Conflict between Azerbaijani and Armenian ambassadors during debates in the US Security Council

25 February 2012 11:30 (UTC +04:00)

New York. Isabel Levine â€“ APA. Azerbaijani and Armenian Ambassadors clashed at the UN Security Council debate on women and peace and security February 24, APAâ€™s correspondent reports from New York.

In his brief to the audios, Agshin Mehdiyev, Azerbaijani Representative to the UN strongly condemned all violence against women and girls in situations of armed conflict, stressing the imperative for all parties to strictly abide by their international humanitarian and human rights law obligations.

Drawing the SCâ€™s attention to the twentieth anniversary of crimes committed against Azerbaijani civilians in the town of Khojaly, where hundreds of civilians had been killed, Ambassador reminded that in its resolutions adopted in response to the occupation of Azerbaijani territories, the Council referred to violations of international humanitarian law and attacks on civilians.

He was confident that measures taken at the national level, as well as in the international framework, would bring those responsible to justice.

Ambassador Mehdiyev also mentioned women taken hostage and reported missing in connection with armed conflict.

He recalled that the fifty-fourth session of the Commission on the Status of Women had called for the immediate release of such women, including through strengthened international cooperation. â€œMore measures were needed, including for combating impunityâ€.

After Ambassador Mehdiyevâ€™s speech, Armenian representative Garen Nazarian took the floor and said â€œit was unfortunate that one member had raised inappropriate issues. His country remained committed to working with the Council and related bodies to address the issues being discussedâ€.

In his response, Ambassador Mehdiyev said the comments made by Armeniaâ€™s representative were an attempt to mislead the Council. He said, Armenia tries to justify acts of systematic and widespread violence committed against civilians, including women and girls.

He was confident a careful reading of international documents would convince Armeniaâ€™s representative not to take the floor with such issues. â€œIt was undisputable that, as an occupying power, Armenia bore responsibility for those actionsâ€.

Armenian representative, again taking the floor, accused Azerbaijan of â€misleading commentsâ€. Reference to SC resolutions on Nagorno-Karabakh were used in a selective and self-serving manner. â€œAzerbaijanâ€™s refusal to engage in negotiations with authorities in the area was the main obstacle to finding a peaceful solution to the conflictâ€, he said.

Speaking again, the Azerbaijani Ambassador said he was curious that Armeniaâ€™s representative tried to lecture a victim of aggression.

â€œThe Government of Armenia had purged the areas of all non-Armenians, which showed that its representative here should be the last person to talk of human rights. Nagorno-Karabakh is part of Azerbaijanâ€, he said.

â€œArmeniaâ€™s stance was an open challenge and a serious threat to international peace and securityâ€, added Ambassador Mehdiyev.

As a result of the general debate, Security Council expressed its deeply concern about incidents, trends and patterns of sexual violence in armed conflict and post conflict situations, as well as all violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, and urged the complete and immediate cessation of such acts.

Following the Councilâ€™s action, Margot WallstrÃ¶m, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, encouraged the 15-nation SC body to continue building on its already notable body of work in the area, as Council action tells rape victims their lives matter, and tells perpetrators â€” and potential perpetrators â€” that â€œthe world is watching.â€