Azernews.Az

By Vafa İsmayilova

President Ilham Aliyev has said Azerbaijan strives to contribute to peace and security within its capabilities and potential, Azertag reported on August 24.

He made the remarks while receiving the newly-appointed UN resident coordinator in Azerbaijan, Vladanka Andreeva, in Baku on August 24.

"We strive to contribute to peace and security within our capabilities and potential... Now that the war [with Armenia] is over, the [Karabakh] conflict has been resolved... We now have to look to the future, and our main concern now is to rebuild the devastated areas. Of course, we look forward to future cooperation with the UN on these issues, on the humanitarian situation, on our plans to restore the liberated territories," the president said.

Deeper cooperation with UN to rehabilitate Karabakh

Aliyev stressed that Azerbaijan undoubtedly needs deeper mutual cooperation with the UN agencies.

"As you know, we are in contact with UNESCO. We have been waiting for UNESCO for almost 30 years. I do not know whether you know it or not, a few years ago during the [Armenian] occupation, we invited UNESCO to pay a visit and see what is happening in our territories," he said.

The president underlined that UNESCO officials declined to visit Azerbaijan to witness the damage inflicted on the country's historical monuments by the Armenian aggressors and they said that the organization was not interfering in political affairs. Aliyev stressed that however, Azerbaijan received signals after the war that UNESCO officials want to visit the region.

"Of course, we expressed our surprise. Because they had not come for almost 30 years when we called them. After the war, they decided to come. Therefore, we agreed to this, and as far as I know, the latest information was that the mission has already been established, but now Armenia is protesting again. Therefore, the mission is still delayed," the president added.

Aliyev said that Azerbaijan is in constant contact with other UN institutions as the country will need extensive international participation and assistance in terms of expert knowledge and advice. He added that Azerbaijan hopes to restore its territories in cooperation with the UN and its agencies.

"Today, the area we have rehabilitated is more than tens of thousands of kilometers long, and of course we are in contact with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. We plan to resettle all former IDPs there as soon as possible, but the main problem is the landmines and the complete destruction of all places. Therefore, our main goal with the UN and its agencies is to achieve the restoration of our liberated lands by trusting each other as partners. We hope that your representation in Baku will be actively involved in this work," the president said.

Lack of international sanctions on Armenia

Aliyev recalled that Azerbaijan's active interaction with the UN began as a result of the Armenian aggression.

He described the adoption of four UN resolutions by the UN Security Council in 1993 as a very positive step and a very encouraging gesture of support for Azerbaijan, referring to the Armenian aggression.

"The demand for the immediate, complete, and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian troops from our internationally recognized territories was a very important political gesture of the Security Council," Aliyev said.

He regretted that the resolutions were not fulfilled due to the lack of a mechanism to implement Security Council resolutions. The president underlined that in some cases, the resolutions are implemented within a short period of time, but in Azerbaijan's case, they have not been implemented at all.

Aliyev noted that the incomprehensible issue of particular concern for Azerbaijani society was that those adopting the resolutions were three of the five permanent Security Council members, that is the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs.

"They themselves have adopted these resolutions. They had a mandate to facilitate the implementation of these resolutions. However, unfortunately, for 28 years the Minsk Group has missed many opportunities. In many cases, I raised the issue of imposing sanctions on Armenia. Because I thought it could be a way to prevent the conflict, to prevent the war. We wanted to resolve the issue peacefully," the head of state said.

Aliyev noted that he warned the international community about Armenia's war plans just a few days before the last year's 44-day war. He said that this was not propaganda, but the result of a real analysis of Armenia's behavior in the months before the war.

The president said that there would be no war if sanctions were applied against Armenia.

"If sanctions were imposed on Armenia in time, if the Minsk Group co-chairs used 5 percent of the potential of the world's three leading countries to persuade or force Armenia to withdraw its occupying forces, the war would not happen. Therefore, the responsibility for the war lies not only with Armenia but also with those who cannot or do not want to force it to comply with international law," he added.

The president stressed that as a result, Azerbaijan itself facilitated the resolutions' fulfillment within the international legal norms and restored its territorial integrity using all international tools.

UN support to Azerbaijan

In turn, the newly-appointed resident coordinator highly assessed Azerbaijan's contribution to the global fight against COVID-19. She also focused on the UN steps taken in Azerbaijan in this sphere.

Vladanka Andreeva stressed that COVID-19 was not the only challenge for the Azerbaijani people in the past 18 months. She expressed the hope that the last year's trilateral ceasefire agreement will give impetus to the establishment of long-term peace in the South Caucasus and a new era leading to peace and cooperation.

Andreeva noted that the UN supported the government in assessing the needs of the Karabakh region in December.

She added that the organization raised $ 1 million to help Azerbaijan's Mine Action Agency clear mines in six regions along the previous line of contact and that it will continue to support national specialists in mine clearance.

The resident coordinator stressed that the UN is simultaneously working with the World Bank, the European Union, and other international partners to establish a fund to coordinate training for the Mine Action Agency and to ensure that the demining process meets the highest standards.

Moreover, the organization remains committed to supporting efforts to ensure the safe and dignified return of IDPs to the Karabakh region.

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