U.S. administration urged to boost efforts to resolve Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
By Sara Rajabova
The House of Representatives of the New Mexico State of the U.S. has passed a resolution, urging the U.S. administration to reinvigorate efforts aimed at a swift solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The resolution said despite all the positive developments, persistent and protracted conflicts in the South Caucasus, including the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, continue to threaten regional peace and stability and impede further development of regional cooperation for the benefit of all three countries of the South Caucasus.
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.
The resolution said the joint declaration adopted by Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia, in November 2008, in which they stated that the political settlement of the conflict, on the basis of international law, will create favorable conditions for economic development and comprehensive cooperation in the region.
It noted the OSCE Minsk Group is tasked to facilitate negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan toward a political settlement of the conflict based on the principles and norms of international law and the decisions and documents adopted by the OSCE and the applicable UN Security Council resolutions.
The document also noted the appointment of James Warlick as the next U.S. co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group by United States President Barack Obama.
It went on to say that the international community, including the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries, on a number of occasions voiced support to the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and said they does not recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent entity.
The international community, including such international organizations as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Non-Aligned Movement recognized that the conflict should be resolved on the basis of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan within its internationally recognized borders, the resolution said.
The resolution further said the U.S. supports Azerbaijan's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and this country is a strategic partner with the United States in a strategically important South Caucasus region bordering Iran, the Russian Federation and Central Asia.
Last year the House of Representatives and the Senate of the State of New Mexico recognized the Khojaly Massacre, committed by the Armenians armed forces in early 1990s.
United States and Azerbaijan established diplomatic relations on February 28, 1992.