Baku: US supports Azerbaijan's territorial integrity
By Akbar Mammadov
The United States supports Azerbaijan's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Leyla Abdullayeva said in a press-conference on May 5.
Commenting on the information spread in the Armenian media on May 5 about the adoption of a resolution by the US Senate of Minnesota on the "recognition" of the so-called regime in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, the spokeswoman said:
"Presented as a resolution of the Minnesota State Senate and signed by Senator Mary Kiffmeyer, Senate Secretary and Chairman of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, the paper is a personal statement of the senator and has a symbolic gesture."
She also noted that no voting is required for the adoption of such a paper, which can be declared by any member of the Senate, meaning that this paper is not adopted by the state of Minnesota as an official resolution.
"Apparently, the paper, presented by the state of Minnesota allegedly as “recognition” of the so-called regime in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, is in fact a symbolic document signed by the senator, which was not considered in the Senate and put to a vote", the spokeswoman added.
In general, I would like to emphasize that the recognition of any institution as a "state" is outside the powers of the state legislative authority. As for the position of the United States at the federal level, this position is clear. The US supports Azerbaijan's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders", she said.
Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a conflict over Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh breakaway region, which along with seven adjacent regions was occupied by Armenian forces in a war in the early 1990s. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and around one million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.
The OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France has been mediating the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict since the signing of the volatile cease-fire agreement in 1994. The Minsk Group’s efforts have resulted in no progress and to this date, Armenia has failed to abide by the UN Security Council resolutions (822, 853, 874 and 884) that demand the withdrawal of Armenian military forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.
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Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97
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