Armenia continues occupation of Azerbaijani lands with disrespect to world countries
By Rashid Shirinov
Armenia, showing disrespect to the requirements of the UN Security Council, resolutions of the UN General Assembly, decisions of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), as well as the positions of the world countries, continues the occupation of Azerbaijani territories in flagrant violation of the norms and principles of international law, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said on September 24.
He made the remarks during his speech at the third meeting of the OIC Contact Group.
The minister noted that Armenia constantly creates obstacles to the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and at the same time, refuses to conduct negotiations aimed at results, resorting to various provocations, tries to aggravate the situation and strengthen the occupation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.
“Recently, the dictatorship regime was overthrown in Armenia, the country’s leadership has changed. The expectations of the new leadership, as it was announced, were to build a policy based on respect for international norms and principles, democratic values,” Mammadyarov said. “Unfortunately, the new leadership decided to follow the path of its predecessors and embarked on activities that are detrimental to the negotiation process by provocative statements.”
The foreign minister expressed the hope that the unique solidarity of the OIC member countries with the just position of Azerbaijan, as well as their support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country, will turn into concrete, practical and effective measures for making the occupant comply with international norms and principles, the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and decisions of the OIC.
Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million were displaced as a result of the war.
Large-scale hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire in 1994 but Armenia continued the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal. Unfortunately, peace talks mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. within the OSCE Minsk Group have produced no tangible results so far due to Armenia's unconstructive position on the issue.
---
Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz