Armenia turns into political speculation paragraph of agreement with EU on Karabakh conflict
By Rashid Shirinov
Armenian officials are turning into a political speculation the paragraph of the agreement signed between the European Union (EU) and Armenia concerning the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said Spokesman of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Hikmat Hajiyev.
Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Karen Nazaryan has recently expressed hope in the Armenian parliament that the European Union will also note this position in the agreement with Azerbaijan.
“Armenian officials at various levels are trying to speak on behalf of the European Union and turn into political speculation and propaganda the agreement signed between Armenian and the EU,” Hajiyev told Trend on April 10 commenting on this attempt of Armenia.
He firstly noted that the EU does not have a mandate and authority to deal with the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
“Despite the groundless claims of the Armenian side, the principles noted in the preamble of the agreement on cooperation between the EU and Armenia referring to the Helsinki Final Act do not have the nature of a legal obligation. The official EU message to the Azerbaijani side notes that according to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, the preamble of the above agreement does not bear a legal obligation,” the spokesman said. “Thereby, the EU only once again confirms that Yerevan is one of the sides of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”
He stressed that the EU has repeatedly, at a high level, expressed support for the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan within the framework of internationally recognized borders and sovereignty of the republic.
“President of the Council of the European Union Donald Tusk in February 2017 in Brussels during a joint press conference with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev stressed that the EU supports the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Azerbaijan,” Hajiyev noted.
He added that Federica Mogherini, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, at a press conference held with the Azerbaijani FM Elmar Mammadyarov within the 15th meeting of the EU-Azerbaijan Cooperation Council in February this year in Brussels, noted that the EU fully supports the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Azerbaijan.
Hajiyev also noted that the Joint Declaration of the EU Eastern Partnership Summit held in Brussels on November 24, 2017, once again expresses unequivocal support for the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of the Eastern Partnership countries.
“It should be specially emphasized that the Joint Declaration refers to the EU’s Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy, where the territorial integrity of EU member states and their neighbors is noted within internationally recognized borders,” the spokesman said.
He mentioned that another paragraph of the Joint Declaration emphasizes that all conflicts that have occurred in the territory of the Eastern Partnership countries should be resolved on the basis of norms and principles of international law.
“The resolution of the European Parliament adopted in 2013 notes that the occupation by one country of the Eastern Partnership of the territory of another member country violates the fundamental principles and objectives of the Eastern Partnership and stresses that the conflict must be resolved on the basis of UN Security Council resolutions No. 822, 853, 874 and 884,” Hajiyev stressed.
Thus, the full and unequivocal support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan was repeatedly stressed both in the statements of high-ranking EU officials and in the EU documents, the spokesman concluded.
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.
While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign state with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.
Until now, Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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