World shows double standards towards Azerbaijan: MP
By Sara Rajabova
An Azerbaijani MP said although Armenia is a member of the international community, it shows disrespect to international legal norms.
Armenia has occupied part of the territory of a neighboring state and subjected it to ethnic cleansing, Aydin Mirzazade told Trend Agency on April 15.
He noted that this country is now trying to use these occupied lands for its own economic purposes.
Mirzazade said refusing to recognize Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, the military units on the occupied territories clearly show that Armenia is far from a civilized state today.
He stressed that if a similar incident happens in other countries, international organizations will demonstrate efficiency in dealing with such issues.
Mirzazade pointed out that when Iraq invaded Kuwait's territory in 1991, the NATO forces responded harshly to the occupation.
"The recent accession of Crimea to Russia led to a strong reaction form international organizations and influential countries, especially European countries. But in relation to Azerbaijan, double standards are demonstrated. Armenia is not only not required to comply with international law, but also supported. Armenia did not suffer from the sanction of international organizations and influential countries. The Azerbaijani President's position on this issue is clear," Mirzazade said.
He noted that countries that do not comply with international laws should be sanctioned; otherwise, the balance of power in the world which was established after World War II can be broken.
Mirzazade said the international community could face another great tragedy then.
He went on to say that the Azerbaijani President's recent speech at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on the results of the country's socio-economic development in the first quarter of 2014 highlights the fact that Azerbaijan will never accept the occupation of its lands, and will use every means of pressuring Armenia and demonstrating its determination to liberate the occupied lands.
Touching on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, President Ilham Aliyev called on international community to impose sanctions on Armenia.
"Armenia has occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's lands, carried out ethnic cleansing, violated four UN Security Council resolutions, and committed the Khojaly genocide," he noted.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the early 1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.
The UN Security Council's four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal have not been enforced to this day.
Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. through the OSCE Minsk Group, are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles. The negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.