International community called to strongly condemn Armenia’s occupation policy against Azerbaijan
By Rashid Shirinov
The world’s leading states and the international community should strongly condemn Armenia’s occupation policy against Azerbaijan, Ukrainian political scientist Vadim Savenko told Day.az on May 9.
He stressed that the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict poses a serious threat to the entire region.
“Azerbaijan enjoys great prestige in the region and in the world, and it has clearly demonstrated its independent foreign policy in the system of international relations, as well as its leadership qualities as the leading country of the South Caucasus,” the expert said. “All these serious bonuses are a great help for the world’s actors to be more active in the restoration of the territorial independence of Azerbaijan in accordance with the principles of international law.”
The political scientist further noted that for more than two decades Armenia has been keeping the native lands of Azerbaijan under occupation, and it refuses to comply with the requirements of the UN Security Council resolutions, which clearly indicate the need for the withdrawal of Armenian military units from foreign territories.
“Thus, Armenia grossly violates the principles of international law, which is unacceptable. Similarly, the resettlement of Syrian Armenians to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan is extremely unacceptable,” Savenko said.
He noted that if Armenia is really concerned about the fate of its compatriots, it is much logical to place them in Yerevan or in other cities and regions of Armenia, but not in the occupied Karabakh.
“Such actions by the Armenian authorities show that their initiatives are only a part of the aggressive policy directed against Azerbaijan,” the expert emphasized.
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.
---
Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz