Baku: Karabakh peace deal ended three-decades-long armed conflict

4 December 2020 12:11 (UTC+04:00)

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By Vafa Ismayilova

Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has said that the trilateral statement signed on 10 November between Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia, created a ground for putting an end to the almost three-decades-long armed conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Bayramov made the remarks in an address to the 27th Meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council held in the Albanian capital Tirana on 3-4 December.

"The implementation of this agreement ensured the cessation of all military activities and the return of the Aghdam, Kalbajar and Lachin districts to Azerbaijan. The 10 November Statement also contains an important provision related to the return of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees to their homes under the supervision of the UNHCR. The agreement also envisages the removal of obstacles to all economic and transport links in the region and guarantees for the safe movement of persons, vehicles and cargo between Armenia and Azerbaijan in both directions, including the connection between mainland Azerbaijan and its Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic," he said.

He added that under the trilateral statement, the joint Russian-Turkish monitoring centre will be established to monitor the implementation of agreements by Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Bayramov thanked Russia and Turkey for their respective contributions to make this agreement a reality. “These neighboring states play an important role as guarantors of the above-mentioned agreement, implementation of which will ensure long-overdue peace and stability in the South Caucasus region,” he said.

He expressed Azerbaijan's readiness to work with all international partners to ensure regional peace and stability.

“Sustaining peace, rehabilitation and reconstruction activities, providing humanitarian assistance to those in need, including returning IDPs and refugees, should be an absolute priority. To this end, Azerbaijan is ready to work with relevant international partners, including ICRC, UNHCR and other UN agencies as well as individual States, which are willing to contribute to peace and stability in the region, in full compliance with the United Nations Guiding Principles on humanitarian assistance of 1991,” the minister added.

Furthermore, Bayramov described the non-compliance with international law and OSCE principles as an immediate cause of violent conflicts.

"Non-compliance with international law and with OSCE principles lie behind the immediate causes of violent conflicts, which continue to pose a serious threat to regional peace and security,” Bayramov said.

The foreign minister recalled the commemoration of the 45th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act and the 30th anniversary of the Charter of Paris for a New Europe this year and described them as "a common foundation of security for all participating States".

"The principles enshrined in the Helsinki Final Act and reconfirmed in the Charter of Paris, in particular those related to sovereign equality, territorial integrity and inviolability of frontiers, remain valid as ever before and form the basis for our relations. On this solemn occasion, the participating States must reaffirm their commitment to ensuring unconditional respect for, and implementation of, the principles of the Helsinki Final Act, without any exception, double standards, geographic or any other preferences,” he said.

The clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan resumed after Armenia launched large-scale attacks on Azerbaijani forces and civilians on September 27. Five Azerbaijani civilians were killed in the first day of the Armenian attacks. Over 90 Azerbaijani civilians were killed in Armenian's indiscriminate attacks on Azerbaijani civilians. Azerbaijan launched counter-offensive operations that ended in the liberation of over 300 settlements, villages. Azerbaijan also liberated five city centres and the historic Shusha city that was liberated on November 8.

The 44 days of war ended with the Russian brokered peace deal signed on November 10 by the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders. Under the peace agreement Azerbaijan’s Kalbajar, Aghdam and Lachin regions were vacated by December 1. The agreement also envisages the return of Azerbaijani IDPs to Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven adjacent regions under the control of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The peace agreement ended the 30-years-old conflict between Baku and Yerevan over Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region that along with the seven adjacent districts came under the occupation of Armenian armed forces in the war in the early 1990s. For about three decades, Armenia failed to implement the UN Security Council resolutions demanding the withdrawal of the Armenian troops, which was the main obstacle to the resolution of the conflict.