Armenia only OSCE member to occupy another member’s territory
By Sara Rajabova
Armenia’s foreign policy is illogical and based on something far away from facts. These are clearly reflected in Armenia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan’s latest statement.
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hikmet Hajiyev made the remark in reaction to Kocharyan’s comments on Armenian military helicopter crash over Azerbaijan’s occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region.
An Armenian MI-24 helicopter flying 1,700 meters northeast of the Kengerli village of Azerbaijan’s Aghdam region attacked the Azerbaijani army positions on November 12. The helicopter was shot down by the Azerbaijani side. The three crew members on the board of MI-24 helicopter were revealed to be Armenian army's servicemen, who illegally joined the so-called "NKR army."
“I would like to remind Armenian deputy foreign minister that the territories of the neighboring Azerbaijan have been occupied and a bloody ethnic cleansing has been carried out against the Azerbaijani nation in these territories and in Armenia as well, in the medieval feudal style," Hajiyev said.
Hajiyev said Armenia is the only member state of OSCE which has occupied the territory of the organization’s another member state by using force and aggression, contravening the Helsinki Final Act (1975). “Such actions contradict the international law, the UN Charter and the rules of civilized relations between states.”
Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that caused a brutal war in the early 1990s.
He further noted that the latest escalation of the situation on the front line once again proves the continuation of Armenian aggression and occupation against Azerbaijan.
“In this case, Armenia used force and has threatened by using force," Hajiyev said.
Hajiyev went on to say that investigative operations proved that Armenia is supporting terrorism.
“It is suffice to remind about the ASALA terrorist organization which have integrated into Armenian intelligence services, as well as Arabo and Aramo terrorist detachments,” he said, noting that the policy of aggression and occupation pursued by Armenia is a main threat to stability and security in the region.
Under the UN Charter and the international law, Armenia is responsible for the aggressive policy pursued against Azerbaijan, according to Hajiyev.
The bloody war, which flared up in the late 1980s due to Armenia's territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor, left without home over a million of civilians of Nagorno-Karabakh and the regions adjoining it, as well as the regions bordering with Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Azerbaijanis who were displaced from their homes as result of the brutal war were forced to live in refugee camps, tents and wagons in very difficult conditions.
As a result of the military aggression of Armenia, over 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed, 4,866 are reported missing and almost 100,000 were injured, and 50,000 were disabled.
Peace talks brokered by mediators from Russia, France and the U.S. have produced no results so far.
Armenia has also not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on its pullout from the neighboring country's territories.