Azerbaijan urges Armenia's leadership not to repeat their predecessors' mistakes
By Rashid Shirinov
Azerbaijan urges the Armenian leadership not to repeat the mistakes of its predecessors, Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Khalaf Khalafov said at the 39th session of the UN Human Rights Council.
He noted that for 30 years already the fundamental rights and freedoms of Azerbaijani refugees from Armenia and internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan have been violated, posing a serious challenge to the UN system and its human rights mechanisms.
“In this regard, Azerbaijan calls on the Human Rights Council, as well as its special mechanisms and the High Commissioner for Human Rights to make effective efforts to restore the violated rights of Azerbaijani refugees and IDPs, as required by the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and the General Assembly,” the deputy minister said.
Azerbaijan, in turn, continues to work to improve the social situation of refugees and IDPs, he added.
“Over the past 25 years, more than $8 billion have been allocated for the social protection of this socially vulnerable group. As many as 150 houses, school buildings, kindergarten, medical institutions and other social infrastructure facilities were built and put into operation in the Jojug Marjanli village of Jabrail region, liberated from the Armenian occupation in April 2016 as a result of repelling the offensive of Armenian troops on the frontline settlements,” Khalafov noted.
The deputy minister stressed that Armenia continues to ignore the implementation of the relevant resolutions of the Security Council and the UN General Assembly.
“Unfortunately, the latest statements of the new leadership of Armenia, in fact, undermine the peace negotiation process, and they are aimed at consolidating the occupation of Azerbaijani territories, thereby putting the region face to face with new threats,” Khalafov said.
He emphasized that the full responsibility for the failure of the negotiation process and the escalation of tension in the region lies entirely with the Armenian leadership.
“We call on the Armenian leadership not to repeat the mistakes of its predecessors and to take a constructive position in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict based on unconditional liberation of all occupied territories of Azerbaijan, respect for and observance of sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of internationally recognized borders of states,” Khalafov said.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region 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. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.
Until now, Armenia controls fifth part of Azerbaijan’s territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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