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  • Armenian FM speaks at UN General Assembly session

    Armenian FM speaks at UN General Assembly session

    http://www.armradio.am/en/2013/09/29/armenian-fm-speaks-at-un-general-assembly-session/
    17:44 29.09.2013


    Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian made a statement at the
    General Debate of the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations
    General Assembly in New York.

    `Mr. President,

    I would like to join the previous speakers in congratulating John Ashe
    on his election as the President of the 68th session of the United
    Nations General Assembly and to thank the outgoing President Mr. Vuk
    Jeremic.

    Mr. President,

    During the past two decades the international community has been
    making great strides towards development of a cohesive approach to
    address the political, social and economic challenges the world
    community is facing nowadays.

    We need to analyze our commitments with a view of the difficulties
    that arose while implementing the Millennium Development Goals. The
    world economic and financial crises had its share in detracting from
    the charted path. However, it revealed some of the underlying issues
    that were either overlooked or underestimated, which were important in
    the overall success. It became clear once again that no country can
    achieve in isolation the MDGs in the world of growing interdependence
    and interconnectedness.

    The UN Conference on Sustainable Development -RIO+20, enriched our
    understanding of the ways of achieving the overall progress towards
    the political, social and economic development.

    Armenia welcomes the inclusion of `Post-2015 Development Agenda:
    Setting the Stage' as the theme and main focus of our deliberations.

    Mr. President,

    Despite the fact that most of us share the understanding that
    elimination of violence and terror is essential for building peaceful,
    sustainable and prosperous societies, peace seems to remain an elusive
    phenomenon in many parts of the world.

    Armenia remains alarmed by the worsening of the humanitarian situation
    in Syria. The number of refugees Armenia continues to receive already
    exceeds ten thousand, but tens of thousands of Syrian-Armenians still
    remain in that country that has become their second home after the
    Genocide of 1915, and they are struggling for their survival in
    unbearable conditions together with their Syrian countrymen.

    Armenia welcomes the resolution of the Security Council 2118 adopted
    unanimously yesterday based on the agreement reached in Geneva between
    Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and US Secretary of State Kerry, which
    could lead to the elimination of chemical weapons and exclusion of
    their use in Syria and could pave the way to a political solution of
    the Syrian crisis, putting an end to the sufferings of the Syrian
    people.

    Mr. President,

    To our strong belief, there is no alternative to the peaceful solution
    of the conflicts. Resolution of conflicts requires political will and
    determination.

    Three months ago, on June 18th the Presidents of the three Co-Chair
    countries of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, United States and France,
    made a new statement on Nagorno-Karabakh in the framework of G8 Summit
    in Enniskillen.

    In Armenia we welcomed this statement saying that, as the Co-Chairs,
    we continue to believe that the elements outlined in the statements of
    the heads of the Co-Chair countries over the last five years can be
    the basis for reaching a fair and lasting settlement of the conflict.
    We share the position of the Co-Chair countries, that those elements
    should be seen as an integrated whole and that any attempt to select
    some elements over others would make it impossible to achieve a
    solution. We absolutely agree that peoples should be prepared for
    peace, not war. Unfortunately until now the Azerbaijani leadership is
    doing just the opposite and is increasing warmongering and
    anti-Armenian hate-speech on a daily basis using even the highest
    podium of the United Nations.

    We absolutely agree with the heads of the three Co-Chair countries, of
    the three permanent members of the Security Council, that the use of
    force will not resolve the conflict, and that only a negotiated
    settlement can lead to peace and stability. However, by the
    unprecedented accumulation of offensive weaponry in massive scale
    Azerbaijan seriously endangers regional and international security,
    despite its membership in the UN Security Council.

    Unlike Azerbaijan, Armenia has on several occasions reiterated and in
    response to the Enniskillen appeal of the Presidents of USA, Russian
    Federation and France, once again re-affirmed its commitment to the
    principles of international law, particularly the non-use of force or
    the threat of force, equal rights and self-determination of peoples,
    and territorial integrity.

    Azerbaijan keeps misinterpreting the 1993 Security Council
    resolutions, the core requirement of which was the immediate cessation
    of all hostilities and hostile acts and the establishment of a durable
    cease-fire. Azerbaijan not only failed to comply with this
    requirement, but further intensified its aggression and the military
    operations against Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia using mercenaries
    closely linked to notorious terrorist organizations. It is not
    surprising that after the ceasefire agreement signed in 1994, the
    mediators, the three permanent members of the Security Council never
    made any reference to those resolutions.

    Azerbaijan is pretending that the international community shares its
    approaches and it shares the approaches of the international
    community. In reality, Azerbaijan is continuously rejecting all
    proposals of the internationally mandated OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair
    countries. Baku rejected all versions of the Basic Principles of the
    settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict proposed by the Co-Chairs
    of the Minsk Group, including those presented at the Kazan (June
    2011), Sochi (March 2011), Astrakhan (October 2011) and Saint
    Petersburg (June 2010) summits.

    Baku refused not only the Basic Principles, but also
    confidence-building measures proposed by the Co-Chairs on
    consolidation of ceasefire, withdrawal of the snipers from the line of
    contact and the establishment of a mechanism for investigation of the
    ceasefire violations.

    Azerbaijan not only obstructs confidence-building measures, but also
    periodically organizes provocations on the line of contact with
    Nagorno-Karabakh and on the border with Armenia, which result in new
    casualties.

    During the previous session of the General Assembly I spoke about the
    release and glorification of an axe-murderer Safarov by the
    Azerbaijani leadership, which was strongly condemned by the entire
    international community, by the United Nations' and other
    international organizations' human rights commissions. Even today,
    more than a year after it, Azerbaijani leadership continues to declare
    that what they did `is just very good' and dares to criticize the
    stance of the international community. This clearly demonstrates the
    deepening gap of perceptions between the Azerbaijani leadership and
    the international community about what is good and what is bad.

    Most recently Azerbaijani authorities on national level have
    ostracized the eminent Azerbaijani writer Aylisli for publishing a
    novel, where he talks about the pogroms against Armenians in Baku,
    Sumgait and other parts of Azerbaijan. His books were publicly burnt
    and the writer had to leave the country facing threats to his life.

    Just last week the President of Azerbaijan once again came up with new
    threats against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh and claimed Armenian
    territories, including almost three thousand years old capital city
    Yerevan.

    Regardless of Azerbaijan's destructive stance, Armenia will continue
    its efforts towards the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
    exclusively through peaceful means and on the basis of the purposes,
    principles and norms reflected in the UN Charter and the provisions of
    L'Aquila, Muskoka, Deauville, Los Cabos and Enniskillen statements of
    the three Co-Chair countries' Presidents.

    Mr. President,

    This March, the Human Rights Council adopted by consensus a resolution
    `On Prevention of Genocide,' initiated by Armenia and co-sponsored by
    over 60 countries. The recognition, condemnation and prevention of
    genocide remains a priority for Armenia and we will take necessary
    actions to prevent new occurrences of the crime of genocide, while
    keeping high on the agenda the issue of responsibility for the crime
    against humanity and its denial.

    As a nation that has survived the first genocide of the twentieth
    century, Armenia unequivocally welcomes the clear position adopted by
    the UN member states in precluding any possibility of immunity or
    pardon for perpetrators of crimes against humanity.

    Mr. President,

    Since May of this year Armenia has assumed the Chairmanship of the
    Council of Europe - a regional organization that remains a key partner
    of the United Nations in our shared global quest united behind the
    principles of fundamental freedoms, defense and promotion of human
    rights and continuous efforts for peace and security.

    The cooperation between these two organizations is also well
    established in the fields of the fight against racism, xenophobia,
    hate-speech and intolerance. These issues are also among Armenia's
    chairmanship priorities that were defined in response to the
    challenges that member states of both the United Nations and the
    Council of Europe are facing today.

    Mr. President,

    Armenia has committed itself to the strengthening of the institutional
    capacities of the United Nations. We support the United Nations reform
    process and are ready to bring our feasible contribution to it. We
    believe that the reforms provide an opportunity to enhance the role of
    this organization in addressing the crucial issues facing the world.

    Thank you.'




    From: A. Papazian
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