Deputy Speaker: Int'l organizations should demonstrate unified position on Armenia’s actions
By Rashid Shirinov
The situation on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops remains dangerous and this is due to continuation of Armenia’s military and political provocations against Azerbaijan, said Bahar Muradova, Vice Speaker of Azerbaijan’s Parliament and head of the Azerbaijani delegation to the OSCE PA.
Muradova has voiced concerns over the tense situation on the frontline in her appeal addressed to OSCE PA President Christine Muttonen.
Pointing to Armenia's strengthening of positions in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and Armenian president’s participation in the ongoing military exercises there, as well as his provocative statements against Azerbaijan, Muradova noted the importance of international organizations’ expression of a single unique solution in this regard.
“Recently, Armenia has openly reinforced and expanded its military positions in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, as well as directed military equipment to those territories. This proofs Armenia’s illegal use of force against Azerbaijan,” the appeal reads.
“Moreover, the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan attended the last stage of the large-scale military exercises on March 25. Thus, he illegally visited occupied territories of Azerbaijan and "awarded soldiers, who distinguished themselves in carrying out combat tasks". Sargsyan's statement that "today, if necessary, the Supreme commander of Armenia will not hesitate to give the order to use Iskander missiles against Azerbaijan" is a clear indication of Armenia’s violation of the Bishkek Protocol, which is the basic document for the ceasefire,” the appeal further reads.
Muradova stressed that Sargsyan's statement has revealed the true intentions of Armenia and showed that Armenia is not interested in resolving the conflict through negotiations.
“While civilized politicians and parliamentarians are looking for ways of establishing peace and security in the world, the leadership of Armenia, through provocative and aggressive rhetoric, continues to breach its obligations, which are imposed on the country within international law and processes on settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.
“I think that the observers within the pre-election mission to Armenia, in particular the representatives of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, should reflect in their reports such cases that don’t meet general standards of elections,” Muradova said in her appeal.
Muradova further added that to prevent gross violations of basic principles of relations between the states, international organizations, including the OSCE PA, should demonstrate a unified position and express an unequivocal attitude to events, as reflected in the Helsinki Final Act.
Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan laying territorial claims on its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, 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.
Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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