Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijan's foreign minister has cited the significance of United Nations resolutions urging an Armenian troop pullout from the occupied Azerbaijani territories while addressing the U.N.

Elmar Mammadyarov said in the speech at the 68^th session of the UN General Assembly that the world still faces a violation of the fundamental norms and principles of international law.

"Twenty years ago, in 1993, the United Nations Security Council adopted four resolutions condemning the use of force against Azerbaijan and the occupation of its territories. In those resolutions the Council reaffirmed respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, reconfirmed that the Nagorno-Karabakh region is an integral part of Azerbaijan and demanded an immediate, full and unconditional withdrawal of the occupying forces from all the occupied territories," Mammadyarov said.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the early 1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.

Mammadyarov expressed regret that the principled Security Council demands, including primarily the withdrawal of the occupying forces from the territories of Azerbaijan, have still not been implemented, and the over 20-year-long mediation efforts within the framework of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) have yet to yield results.

According to Mammadyarov, Armenia's continued annexationist claims and consistent measures it undertakes in the occupied Azerbaijani territories with a view to further consolidating the current status quo of the occupation and preventing the return of hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons to their homes represent an open challenge to the conflict resolution process and pose a serious threat to international and regional peace and security.

"Armenia's annexationist policy has absolutely no chance of success," Mammadyarov said. "The Nagorno-Karabakh region was, is and will be an inalienable part of Azerbaijan. The only way to achieve a durable and lasting solution and establish civilized relations between the two neighboring states is to de-occupy Azerbaijani territories, fully re-establish the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and immediately provide for compliance with the inalienable right of refugees and internally displaced persons to return to their homes. That is what international law and the relevant Security Council resolutions require, and that is what can in no way be introduced as a bargaining chip in the conflict settlement process. Above all, Azerbaijan will never compromise its territorial integrity or the rights and freedoms of its citizens."

Mammadyarov stressed that the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of Nagorno-Karabakh will one day live side by side in peace in this region of Azerbaijan.

"It is therefore essential and vital to continue efforts for peace, accord and coexistence between the two communities of the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Azerbaijan considers these aspects as an important part of the entire reconciliation process, which should be given due attention," Mammadyarov said.

He said Azerbaijan appreciates the principled stance of the member states of the United Nations expressed in various formats on issues of vital importance for Azerbaijan and pertaining to its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"We count on the continued resolve of the international community in defending the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and its strong solidarity with the just position of Azerbaijan," Mammadyarov said.