Azerbaijan’s mission to UN: Armenia aims to undermine Karabakh conflict resolution

Baku, Azerbaijan, July 6 By Elmira Tariverdiyeva – Trend: Armenia has been conducting systematic, deliberate and targeted attacks on civilian population of Azerbaijan encompassing, inter alia, women, children and elderly residing in the densely populated areas adjacent to the frontline, reads a statement by the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the UN Office and other International Organizations in Geneva. “Armenia's attacks against the Azerbaijani civilian population and civilian targets constitute a serious violation of international humanitarian and human rights law, in particular the 1949 Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocol I thereto, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms,” said the statement. “The unlawful presence of the armed forces of Armenia in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan is the primary reason of the continued tensions and ongoing incidents along the frontline and major impediment to the resolution of the [Nagorno-Karabakh] conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.” After the visit of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to the region in June 2017, the co-chairs called for changing the status quo in the conflict by launching substantive and serious negotiations. However, Armenian side responded to these calls by brutal killings of the civilians, according to the statement. “By escalating the situation in a deliberate manner Armenia pursues the goal of undermining the resolution of the conflict via substantive negotiations and maintaining the status quo of the occupation.” This situation once again demonstrates the urgent necessity that the co-chairs and the international organizations demand Armenia to withdraw its troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan in accordance with the norms and principles of international law and relevant decisions and resolutions of the international organizations, reads the statement. “The fundamental basis for the settlement of the conflict is laid down in the United Nations Security Council resolutions 822(1993), 853(1993), 874(1993) and 884(1993) and the United Nations General Assembly resolution 62/243 (2008), which condemn the use of force against Azerbaijan and occupation of its territories by Armenia and reaffirm the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and the inviolability of its internationally recognized borders. In those resolutions, the United Nations reaffirmed that the Nagorno-Karabakh region is an inalienable part of Azerbaijan and demanded immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of the occupying forces from all occupied territories of Azerbaijan.” Azerbaijan calls the international community to demand Armenia to cease the illegal occupation of Azerbaijan's territories, to withdraw its troops from all occupied lands and to engage constructively in the conflict settlement process, said the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan, adding that the responsibility for the current situation and its possible deterioration completely falls on the political-military leadership of Armenia. On July 4 at about 20:40 (GMT+4 hours), the Armenian armed forces again violated ceasefire and, using 82-mm and 120-mm mortars and grenade launchers, shelled Azerbaijani positions and territories where the civilian population lives, namely the Alkhanli village of the country’s Fuzuli district. As a result, the residents of the village Sakhiba Guliyeva, 50, and Zakhra Guliyeva, 2, were killed. Servinaz Guliyeva, 52, who got wounded, was taken to the hospital and was operated on. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. Tags: provocation Armenia Azerbaijan UN