Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

In accordance with the United Nations charter, member states have vested in the Security Council the primary responsibility for the maintenance of peace and security, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has said.

Mammadyarov was speaking at the UN Security Council open debate on cooperation between the UN and regional and sub-regional organizations in maintaining international peace and security.

"Since the 2005 World Summit and the adoption of Security Council Resolution 1631, important progress has been achieved in enhancing cooperation between the United Nations and regional partners across the full range of areas -- from maintenance of international peace and security and humanitarian assistance to development and protection of human rights," the minister said.

According to Mammadyarov, on a number of occasions, relevant regional organizations have proven to be indispensable mechanisms in promoting international and regional peace, security and cooperation.

He noted that the role of some organizations, such as the African Union and the League of Arab States, has increased significantly.

"As a member of the Security Council and an observer to the African Union and the League of Arab States, Azerbaijan will further support the development of partnership relations between these regional organizations and the United Nations," Mammadyarov said.

He said the increasing role of organizations raises the need for exploring the opportunities and relevant approaches that can better serve the purpose of enhancing cooperation of these organizations with the United Nations across a broad agenda of mutual concern.

Furthermore, Mammadyarov said that at the same time serious challenges remain.

"While regional organizations are normally well positioned to understand the causes of armed conflicts owing to their knowledge of the region, it is however obvious that not all of them can boast their ability, political will and institutional capacity to ensure the compliance by Member States with their statutory commitments," Mammadyarov said.

First and foremost, it is crucial that all Member States adhere to their obligations, as laid down in the Charter, with respect to the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of States, the minister said.

"We express our concern at attempts undertaken in some situations of armed conflict with a view to misinterpreting the norms and principles of international law and downplaying the relevance of the Security Council resolutions," Mammadyarov said.

Mammadyarov said it is therefore important that at the current meeting the Council stressed the importance of a coordinated international response to causes of conflict and called upon the international community, including United Nations agencies, to assist the efforts at the regional level aimed at a peaceful settlement of disputes and the prevention and resolution of conflicts in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and relevant Security Council resolutions.

The Council also stressed that regional partners must at all times keep it informed of their activity in the area of peace and security, Mammadyarov noted.

As a matter of priority, special attention should be paid to the implementation of Security Council resolutions, in particular those related to the prevention and settlement of conflicts, the minister said.

The Security Council emphasized in its presidential statement that ending impunity is essential in a conflict and post-conflict society's efforts to come to terms with the past wrongs and that regional and sub-regional organizations should contribute to individual accountability, according to the minister.

"As a country suffering from occupation and large-scale ethnic cleansing of a significant part of its territory, Azerbaijan strongly supports that approach in working to address protracted conflicts and their humanitarian and human rights consequences in different parts of the world," Mammadyarov added.

Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that caused a brutal war in the early 1990s. Long-standing efforts by US, Russian and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.

As a result of the military aggression of Armenia, over 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed, 4,866 are reported missing and almost 100,000 were injured, and 50,000 were disabled.

The UNSC has passed four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but they have not been enforced to this day.