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Armenian Assembly of America News
1334 G Street, N.W., Suite 200
Washington, D.C. 20005
Tel: (202) 393-3434
Fax: (202) 638-4904
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: http://armenianassembly.tumblr.com/
President Serzh Sargsyan Addresses 69th Session of United Nations General
Assembly
By Taniel Koushakjian
AAANews Blog
September 24, 2014
Today, the 69th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)
kicked off in New York City. President Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia was the
11th speaker to take the podium this morning, where he discussed a wide
range of issues facing Armenians across the globe.
Sargsyan began his speech recalling the centennial of World War I, the 70th
anniversary of the end of World War II, and the founding of the U.N. In
this context, Sargsyan highlighted 2015 as the 100th anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide, stating that `it was an unprecedented crime aimed at
eliminating the nation and depriving it of its homeland: a crime that
continues to be an unhealed scar for each Armenian.'
Standing at what he labeled the podium of `Honor and Responsibility,'
Sargsyan thanked Uruguay, France, Russia, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands,
Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Greece, Slovakia, Cyprus,
Lebanon, Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, Canada, and the Vatican for their
`recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide.'
Sargsyan also called out Turkey's 99-year international campaign of
genocide denial `since denial is a phase of the crime of genocide.' `For a
whole century now Armenians around the globe as well as the entire
progressive international community expects Turkey to demonstrate the
courage and face its own history by recognizing the Armenian Genocide, thus
relieving next generations of this heavy burden of the past,' Sargsyan
said. `Alas instead, we continue to hear ambiguous and ulterior messages,
in which the victim and the slaughterer are equalized, and the history is
falsified,' a thinly veiled reference to Turkish Prime
Minister-turned-President Erdogan's April 23, 2013 statement to descendants
of Armenian Genocide survivors.
In a showcase of diplomatic savvy, Sarsgsyan reiterated that `Armenia has
never conditioned the normalization of the bilateral relations with Turkey
by recognition of the Armenian Genocide. In fact, Armenia was the party
that initiated such a process which culminated in the signing of the Zurich
Protocols in 2009,' he said. However, given Turkey's unwillingness to
follow through with their international commitment to normalize relations
with Armenia without precondition, Sargsyan warned that `official Yerevan
is seriously considering the issue of recalling the Armenian-Turkish
Protocols.'
Then, turning to a more recent dark page in the history of the Armenian
people, Sargsyan condemned the destruction of the Armenian Church and
Genocide Memorial at Der Zor, Syria. `Two days ago, on Independence Day of
the Republic of Armenia, the Church of All Saint Martyrs in Deir-ez-Zor,
Syria, dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide,
where their remains were housed, was mined and blown up by terrorists. Such
a barbarity is a criminal Godlessness in no way or shape related to any
faith.' In discussing the crisis in Syria and Iraq, he reminded the world
that `among them are tens of thousands of Armenians of Aleppo,' and that
there is a `necessity to defend the Armenian population of Syria and the
Yezidi population of north-western Iraq.'
Sargsyan also talked about Armenia's contribution to international peace
keeping missions, such as those in Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and the
next planned mission in southern Lebanon.
In rounding out his speech, Sargsyan spoke about the greatest threat to
Armenia's national security today: Azerbaijan. This summer witnessed the
most bloodshed and cross border attacks along the Nagorno
Karabakh-Azerbaijan line-of-contact since a fragile ceasefire was signed in
1994. It is an open secret that, in the wake of Russian aggression in
Ukraine, Azerbaijan launched military offensives again Nagorno Karabakh and
Armenia proper. `The failure of an adequate international characterization
of the bellicose declarations and various threats put forth at the highest
level in Azerbaijan has resulted in all-out permissiveness,' Sargsyan said.
`The President of Azerbaijan designates the entire Armenian nation as the
`the enemy number one', and what is considered in the rest of the world to
be a crime, is considered to be a glorious deed in Azerbaijan,' another
thinly veiled reference to the convicted murderer Ramil Safarov who
barbarically killed an Armenian officer, Gurgen Margaryan, who was asleep,
with an axe when the two were participating at a NATO training course in
Hungary.
Sargsyan also took this opportunity to expose the Azerbaijani government's
manipulation of four UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions adopted during
the Nagorno Karabakh (NK) war. In fulfilling the requirements of the four
UNSC resolutions on the NK war `Azerbaijan failed to comply,' Sargsyan
said, citing Azerbaijan's indiscriminate bombardment of civilian
populations, the dual blockade they've imposed on Armenia (in coordination
with Turkey), Azerbaijan's refusal to engage NK authorities in peace
negotiations, Azerbaijan's inhuman and typically fatal treatment of
Armenian prisoners of war, and Azerbaijan's preaching `hatred towards
people it claims it wants to see as a part of their state.'
Sargsyan's remarks at the 69th session of the UNGA were poised, articulate,
and factually consistent with international law. Armenians around the
world, particularly those of us here in the United States, hope that the
world community was listening closely.
Below is President Serzh Sargsyan's speech in full:
Distinguished President of the General Assembly,
Distinguished Secretary General,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Mr. President,
We conduct this meeting in a symbolically significant period between the
centennial of World War I and the 70th anniversary of the end of World War
II, the two turning points in the history of humanity. The United Nations
Organization was established almost seventy years ago at the end of World
War II, and its mission was to form new civilizational environment and
culture of preventing the repetition of the past tragic pages.
2015 bears particular significance for Armenians all over the world. On
April 24 Armenians around the globe will commemorate the most tragic page
of the nation's history - the centennial of the Armenian Genocide. It was
an unprecedented crime aimed at eliminating the nation and depriving it of
its homeland: a crime that continues to be an unhealed scar for each
Armenian. The 1915 Genocide was a crime against civilization and humanity,
and its inadequate condemnation paved the way for similar crimes of mass
murder in the future.
Addressing the Assembly ahead of that centennial year of the Armenian
Genocide from this prominent podium, which I would call the podium of Honor
and Responsibility, I declare vociferously:
Thank you Uruguay, France, and Russia!
Thank you Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Sweden!
Thank you Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Greece, Slovakia, and Cyprus!
Thank you Lebanon, Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, Canada, and Vatican!
Thank you for the recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide
regardless of the format and language adopted. I thank the U.S.A., European
Union, and all those personalities, state bodies, territorial units and
organizations in numerous countries, who publicly called things by their
proper names. That is indeed extremely important since denial is a phase of
the crime of genocide.
For a whole century now Armenians around the globe as well as the entire
progressive international community expects Turkey to demonstrate the
courage and face its own history by recognizing the Armenian Genocide, thus
relieving next generations of this heavy burden of the past. Alas instead,
we continue to hear ambiguous and ulterior messages, in which the victim
and the slaughterer are equalized, and the history is falsified.
Armenia has never conditioned the normalization of the bilateral relations
with Turkey by recognition of the Armenian Genocide. In fact, Armenia was
the party that initiated such a process which culminated in the signing of
the Zurich Protocols in 2009. However, those Protocols have been shelved
for years now awaiting ratification in the Turkish Parliament. Ankara
declares publicly that it will ratify those Protocols only if Armenians
cede Nagorno- Karabakh, the free Artsakh, to Azerbaijan. In Armenia and
Artsakh ordinary people often just retort to such preconditions: `To hell
with you ratification.' This vernacular phrase concentrates the age-old
struggle of the entire nation, and it unequivocally explains to those who
attempt to bargain the others' homeland that the motherland is sacrosanct,
and they had better stay away from us with their bargain. It is in these
circumstances that currently the official Yerevan is seriously considering
the issue of recalling the Armenian-Turkish Protocols from the parliament.
The tragic events in Syria and Iraq, which we are currently witnessing,
demonstrate how the groups whose creed is hatred are targeting religious
and national minorities. Two days ago, on Independence Day of the Republic
of Armenia, the Church of All Saint Martyrs in Deir-ez-Zor, Syria,
dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide, where
their remains were housed, was mined and blown up by terrorists. Such a
barbarity is a criminal Godlessness in no way or shape related to any
faith. The catastrophic situation in Syria and the north of Iraq
continuously deteriorates, and today hundreds of thousands of peaceful
people are directly imperiled. Among them are tens of thousands of
Armenians of Aleppo. This is an instance of a peril to consider in the
context of our joint commitments to preventing the crimes against humanity.
Armenia has voiced on numerous occasions the necessity to defend the
Armenian population of Syria and the Yezidi population of north-western
Iraq, and we are encouraged by the unified stance of the international
community in this regard.
The very essence of our organization is the preservation of world peace and
security. In recent years, Armenia has consistently consolidated its
peacekeeping capabilities thus preparing ourselves for a more proactive
engagement in that field. Armenian peacekeepers will very soon be
dispatched to the south of Lebanon within the framework of the UNIFIL
mission under the auspices of the United Nations. It became possible due to
close collaboration we enjoy with our Italian colleagues. I strongly
believe that our servicemen will fulfill their mission with dignity and
high professionalism also utilizing the extensive experience they have
garnered in the last decade in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Distinguished colleagues,
It has been more than twenty years our neighbor aborts the efforts of the
international community directed at the just and peaceful settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by its unconstructive and maximalist stance. The
failure of an adequate international characterization of the bellicose
declarations and various threats put forth at the highest level in
Azerbaijan has resulted in all-out permissiveness. The President of
Azerbaijan designates the entire Armenian nation as the `the enemy number
one', and what is considered in the rest of the world to be a crime, is
considered to be a glorious deed in Azerbaijan.
Despite the fact that each conflict is unique, fundamental human rights and
freedoms, including the right of peoples to free expression of will and
self-determination, continue to evolve as a determinant to their
resolution. The vote held a few days ago in Scotland, once again proved
that nowadays the institute of referendum is more and more widely perceived
as a legal model for peaceful settlement of ethnic conflicts. It was no
coincidence that the right to govern one's own fate through referendum is
in the core of the proposal put forward by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk
Group for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Ladies and gentlemen,
While discussing the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement I cannot but
address the four UN Security Council resolutions, which were adopted during
the war, that every so often are exploited by Azerbaijani authorities in
order to justify their obstructive policy.
It is about those four Resolutions that demanded unconditionally as a
matter of priority cessation of all military hostilities. Azerbaijan failed
to comply. Azerbaijan's own non-compliance with the fundamental demands of
these Resolutions made their full implementation impossible. The
Resolutions contained calls upon the parties to cease bombardments and air
strikes targeting peaceful civilian populations, to refrain from violating
the principles of international humanitarian law but instead Azerbaijan
continued its indiscriminate bombardments of civilian populations.
Azerbaijan did not spare children, women and old men thus gravely violating
all legal and moral norms of international humanitarian law.
Now Azerbaijan cynically refers to these Resolutions - refers selectively,
pulling them out of context as a prerequisite for the settlement of the
problem. The adequate interpretation of the UN Security Council Resolutions
is not possible without correctly understanding the hierarchy of the
demands set therein.
The Resolutions inter alia request the restoration of economic, transport
and energy links in the region (UN SC Resolution 853) and removal of all
obstacles to communications and transportation (UN SC Resolution 874). It
is no secret that Azerbaijan and Turkey imposed blockade on
Nagorno-Karabakh and the Republic of Armenia from the outset of the
conflict. The Azerbaijani President in his statements even takes pride in
this fact promising his own public that direction would remain the priority
of Azerbaijan's foreign policy.
The abovementioned UN Security Council Resolutions called upon Azerbaijan
to establish direct contacts with Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan refused to
establish any direct contact with Nagorno-Karabakh, which was a legally
equal party to the Ceasefire Agreement concluded in 1994, as well as to a
number of other international agreements. Moreover, Azerbaijan preaches
hatred towards people it claims it wants to see as a part of their state.
None of the UN SC Resolutions identifies Armenia as a conflicting party.
Our country is only called upon `to continue to exert its influence' over
the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians (UN SC Resolutions 853, 884) in order to
cease the conflict. Armenia fully complied, and partly owing to its efforts
a ceasefire agreement was concluded in 1994. All the UN SC Resolutions have
clearly recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as a party to the conflict.
Azerbaijani authorities have failed to implement the fundamental demands of
the Security Council resolutions, including abiding and sticking by
humanitarian norms. Incidentally, Azerbaijan has been gravely violating
this demand every now and then. Azerbaijan's cruel and inhumane treatment
of the Armenian civilian prisoners of war regularly resulted in their
deaths. Although, I think, one shall not be surprised about it because it
is the same state that suppresses and exercises the most inhumane treatment
of its own people. A clear proof of it was the decision of the UN
Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture to suspend its visit to Azerbaijan
due to the obstructions it encountered in the conduct of the official Baku.
The Co-Chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group is the only specialized
structure that has been dealing with the Nagorno-Karabakh issue according
to the mandate granted by the international community. While Azerbaijan is
very well aware that it could not possibly deceive or misinform the Minsk
Group, which is very-well immersed in the essence of the problem, it
attempts to transpose the conflict settlement to other platforms trying to
depict it as a territorial dispute or exploiting the factor of religious
solidarity. That is ironic, since Armenia traditionally enjoys very warm
relations with the Islamic states both in the Arab world or, for instance,
with our immediate neighbor Iran.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We highly value the indispensable role of the United Nations in the
adjustment and implementation of the development goals. I strongly believe
that through the new `Post-2015' development agenda we will continue our
efforts at seeking solutions and responding to challenges of global nature
stemming from the Millennium Development Goals.
In conclusion, I would like to underline that we have passed the
substantial part of the road leading to shaping the `Post-2015 Development
Agenda' and we will continue our endeavors in this regard by displaying
necessary flexibility in order to bring this process to its logical
conclusion.
I thank you.
Available online at: http://bit.ly/1rntd6B
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
1334 G Street, N.W., Suite 200
Washington, D.C. 20005
Tel: (202) 393-3434
Fax: (202) 638-4904
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: http://armenianassembly.tumblr.com/
President Serzh Sargsyan Addresses 69th Session of United Nations General
Assembly
By Taniel Koushakjian
AAANews Blog
September 24, 2014
Today, the 69th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)
kicked off in New York City. President Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia was the
11th speaker to take the podium this morning, where he discussed a wide
range of issues facing Armenians across the globe.
Sargsyan began his speech recalling the centennial of World War I, the 70th
anniversary of the end of World War II, and the founding of the U.N. In
this context, Sargsyan highlighted 2015 as the 100th anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide, stating that `it was an unprecedented crime aimed at
eliminating the nation and depriving it of its homeland: a crime that
continues to be an unhealed scar for each Armenian.'
Standing at what he labeled the podium of `Honor and Responsibility,'
Sargsyan thanked Uruguay, France, Russia, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands,
Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Greece, Slovakia, Cyprus,
Lebanon, Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, Canada, and the Vatican for their
`recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide.'
Sargsyan also called out Turkey's 99-year international campaign of
genocide denial `since denial is a phase of the crime of genocide.' `For a
whole century now Armenians around the globe as well as the entire
progressive international community expects Turkey to demonstrate the
courage and face its own history by recognizing the Armenian Genocide, thus
relieving next generations of this heavy burden of the past,' Sargsyan
said. `Alas instead, we continue to hear ambiguous and ulterior messages,
in which the victim and the slaughterer are equalized, and the history is
falsified,' a thinly veiled reference to Turkish Prime
Minister-turned-President Erdogan's April 23, 2013 statement to descendants
of Armenian Genocide survivors.
In a showcase of diplomatic savvy, Sarsgsyan reiterated that `Armenia has
never conditioned the normalization of the bilateral relations with Turkey
by recognition of the Armenian Genocide. In fact, Armenia was the party
that initiated such a process which culminated in the signing of the Zurich
Protocols in 2009,' he said. However, given Turkey's unwillingness to
follow through with their international commitment to normalize relations
with Armenia without precondition, Sargsyan warned that `official Yerevan
is seriously considering the issue of recalling the Armenian-Turkish
Protocols.'
Then, turning to a more recent dark page in the history of the Armenian
people, Sargsyan condemned the destruction of the Armenian Church and
Genocide Memorial at Der Zor, Syria. `Two days ago, on Independence Day of
the Republic of Armenia, the Church of All Saint Martyrs in Deir-ez-Zor,
Syria, dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide,
where their remains were housed, was mined and blown up by terrorists. Such
a barbarity is a criminal Godlessness in no way or shape related to any
faith.' In discussing the crisis in Syria and Iraq, he reminded the world
that `among them are tens of thousands of Armenians of Aleppo,' and that
there is a `necessity to defend the Armenian population of Syria and the
Yezidi population of north-western Iraq.'
Sargsyan also talked about Armenia's contribution to international peace
keeping missions, such as those in Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and the
next planned mission in southern Lebanon.
In rounding out his speech, Sargsyan spoke about the greatest threat to
Armenia's national security today: Azerbaijan. This summer witnessed the
most bloodshed and cross border attacks along the Nagorno
Karabakh-Azerbaijan line-of-contact since a fragile ceasefire was signed in
1994. It is an open secret that, in the wake of Russian aggression in
Ukraine, Azerbaijan launched military offensives again Nagorno Karabakh and
Armenia proper. `The failure of an adequate international characterization
of the bellicose declarations and various threats put forth at the highest
level in Azerbaijan has resulted in all-out permissiveness,' Sargsyan said.
`The President of Azerbaijan designates the entire Armenian nation as the
`the enemy number one', and what is considered in the rest of the world to
be a crime, is considered to be a glorious deed in Azerbaijan,' another
thinly veiled reference to the convicted murderer Ramil Safarov who
barbarically killed an Armenian officer, Gurgen Margaryan, who was asleep,
with an axe when the two were participating at a NATO training course in
Hungary.
Sargsyan also took this opportunity to expose the Azerbaijani government's
manipulation of four UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions adopted during
the Nagorno Karabakh (NK) war. In fulfilling the requirements of the four
UNSC resolutions on the NK war `Azerbaijan failed to comply,' Sargsyan
said, citing Azerbaijan's indiscriminate bombardment of civilian
populations, the dual blockade they've imposed on Armenia (in coordination
with Turkey), Azerbaijan's refusal to engage NK authorities in peace
negotiations, Azerbaijan's inhuman and typically fatal treatment of
Armenian prisoners of war, and Azerbaijan's preaching `hatred towards
people it claims it wants to see as a part of their state.'
Sargsyan's remarks at the 69th session of the UNGA were poised, articulate,
and factually consistent with international law. Armenians around the
world, particularly those of us here in the United States, hope that the
world community was listening closely.
Below is President Serzh Sargsyan's speech in full:
Distinguished President of the General Assembly,
Distinguished Secretary General,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Mr. President,
We conduct this meeting in a symbolically significant period between the
centennial of World War I and the 70th anniversary of the end of World War
II, the two turning points in the history of humanity. The United Nations
Organization was established almost seventy years ago at the end of World
War II, and its mission was to form new civilizational environment and
culture of preventing the repetition of the past tragic pages.
2015 bears particular significance for Armenians all over the world. On
April 24 Armenians around the globe will commemorate the most tragic page
of the nation's history - the centennial of the Armenian Genocide. It was
an unprecedented crime aimed at eliminating the nation and depriving it of
its homeland: a crime that continues to be an unhealed scar for each
Armenian. The 1915 Genocide was a crime against civilization and humanity,
and its inadequate condemnation paved the way for similar crimes of mass
murder in the future.
Addressing the Assembly ahead of that centennial year of the Armenian
Genocide from this prominent podium, which I would call the podium of Honor
and Responsibility, I declare vociferously:
Thank you Uruguay, France, and Russia!
Thank you Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Sweden!
Thank you Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Greece, Slovakia, and Cyprus!
Thank you Lebanon, Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, Canada, and Vatican!
Thank you for the recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide
regardless of the format and language adopted. I thank the U.S.A., European
Union, and all those personalities, state bodies, territorial units and
organizations in numerous countries, who publicly called things by their
proper names. That is indeed extremely important since denial is a phase of
the crime of genocide.
For a whole century now Armenians around the globe as well as the entire
progressive international community expects Turkey to demonstrate the
courage and face its own history by recognizing the Armenian Genocide, thus
relieving next generations of this heavy burden of the past. Alas instead,
we continue to hear ambiguous and ulterior messages, in which the victim
and the slaughterer are equalized, and the history is falsified.
Armenia has never conditioned the normalization of the bilateral relations
with Turkey by recognition of the Armenian Genocide. In fact, Armenia was
the party that initiated such a process which culminated in the signing of
the Zurich Protocols in 2009. However, those Protocols have been shelved
for years now awaiting ratification in the Turkish Parliament. Ankara
declares publicly that it will ratify those Protocols only if Armenians
cede Nagorno- Karabakh, the free Artsakh, to Azerbaijan. In Armenia and
Artsakh ordinary people often just retort to such preconditions: `To hell
with you ratification.' This vernacular phrase concentrates the age-old
struggle of the entire nation, and it unequivocally explains to those who
attempt to bargain the others' homeland that the motherland is sacrosanct,
and they had better stay away from us with their bargain. It is in these
circumstances that currently the official Yerevan is seriously considering
the issue of recalling the Armenian-Turkish Protocols from the parliament.
The tragic events in Syria and Iraq, which we are currently witnessing,
demonstrate how the groups whose creed is hatred are targeting religious
and national minorities. Two days ago, on Independence Day of the Republic
of Armenia, the Church of All Saint Martyrs in Deir-ez-Zor, Syria,
dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide, where
their remains were housed, was mined and blown up by terrorists. Such a
barbarity is a criminal Godlessness in no way or shape related to any
faith. The catastrophic situation in Syria and the north of Iraq
continuously deteriorates, and today hundreds of thousands of peaceful
people are directly imperiled. Among them are tens of thousands of
Armenians of Aleppo. This is an instance of a peril to consider in the
context of our joint commitments to preventing the crimes against humanity.
Armenia has voiced on numerous occasions the necessity to defend the
Armenian population of Syria and the Yezidi population of north-western
Iraq, and we are encouraged by the unified stance of the international
community in this regard.
The very essence of our organization is the preservation of world peace and
security. In recent years, Armenia has consistently consolidated its
peacekeeping capabilities thus preparing ourselves for a more proactive
engagement in that field. Armenian peacekeepers will very soon be
dispatched to the south of Lebanon within the framework of the UNIFIL
mission under the auspices of the United Nations. It became possible due to
close collaboration we enjoy with our Italian colleagues. I strongly
believe that our servicemen will fulfill their mission with dignity and
high professionalism also utilizing the extensive experience they have
garnered in the last decade in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Distinguished colleagues,
It has been more than twenty years our neighbor aborts the efforts of the
international community directed at the just and peaceful settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by its unconstructive and maximalist stance. The
failure of an adequate international characterization of the bellicose
declarations and various threats put forth at the highest level in
Azerbaijan has resulted in all-out permissiveness. The President of
Azerbaijan designates the entire Armenian nation as the `the enemy number
one', and what is considered in the rest of the world to be a crime, is
considered to be a glorious deed in Azerbaijan.
Despite the fact that each conflict is unique, fundamental human rights and
freedoms, including the right of peoples to free expression of will and
self-determination, continue to evolve as a determinant to their
resolution. The vote held a few days ago in Scotland, once again proved
that nowadays the institute of referendum is more and more widely perceived
as a legal model for peaceful settlement of ethnic conflicts. It was no
coincidence that the right to govern one's own fate through referendum is
in the core of the proposal put forward by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk
Group for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Ladies and gentlemen,
While discussing the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement I cannot but
address the four UN Security Council resolutions, which were adopted during
the war, that every so often are exploited by Azerbaijani authorities in
order to justify their obstructive policy.
It is about those four Resolutions that demanded unconditionally as a
matter of priority cessation of all military hostilities. Azerbaijan failed
to comply. Azerbaijan's own non-compliance with the fundamental demands of
these Resolutions made their full implementation impossible. The
Resolutions contained calls upon the parties to cease bombardments and air
strikes targeting peaceful civilian populations, to refrain from violating
the principles of international humanitarian law but instead Azerbaijan
continued its indiscriminate bombardments of civilian populations.
Azerbaijan did not spare children, women and old men thus gravely violating
all legal and moral norms of international humanitarian law.
Now Azerbaijan cynically refers to these Resolutions - refers selectively,
pulling them out of context as a prerequisite for the settlement of the
problem. The adequate interpretation of the UN Security Council Resolutions
is not possible without correctly understanding the hierarchy of the
demands set therein.
The Resolutions inter alia request the restoration of economic, transport
and energy links in the region (UN SC Resolution 853) and removal of all
obstacles to communications and transportation (UN SC Resolution 874). It
is no secret that Azerbaijan and Turkey imposed blockade on
Nagorno-Karabakh and the Republic of Armenia from the outset of the
conflict. The Azerbaijani President in his statements even takes pride in
this fact promising his own public that direction would remain the priority
of Azerbaijan's foreign policy.
The abovementioned UN Security Council Resolutions called upon Azerbaijan
to establish direct contacts with Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan refused to
establish any direct contact with Nagorno-Karabakh, which was a legally
equal party to the Ceasefire Agreement concluded in 1994, as well as to a
number of other international agreements. Moreover, Azerbaijan preaches
hatred towards people it claims it wants to see as a part of their state.
None of the UN SC Resolutions identifies Armenia as a conflicting party.
Our country is only called upon `to continue to exert its influence' over
the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians (UN SC Resolutions 853, 884) in order to
cease the conflict. Armenia fully complied, and partly owing to its efforts
a ceasefire agreement was concluded in 1994. All the UN SC Resolutions have
clearly recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as a party to the conflict.
Azerbaijani authorities have failed to implement the fundamental demands of
the Security Council resolutions, including abiding and sticking by
humanitarian norms. Incidentally, Azerbaijan has been gravely violating
this demand every now and then. Azerbaijan's cruel and inhumane treatment
of the Armenian civilian prisoners of war regularly resulted in their
deaths. Although, I think, one shall not be surprised about it because it
is the same state that suppresses and exercises the most inhumane treatment
of its own people. A clear proof of it was the decision of the UN
Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture to suspend its visit to Azerbaijan
due to the obstructions it encountered in the conduct of the official Baku.
The Co-Chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group is the only specialized
structure that has been dealing with the Nagorno-Karabakh issue according
to the mandate granted by the international community. While Azerbaijan is
very well aware that it could not possibly deceive or misinform the Minsk
Group, which is very-well immersed in the essence of the problem, it
attempts to transpose the conflict settlement to other platforms trying to
depict it as a territorial dispute or exploiting the factor of religious
solidarity. That is ironic, since Armenia traditionally enjoys very warm
relations with the Islamic states both in the Arab world or, for instance,
with our immediate neighbor Iran.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We highly value the indispensable role of the United Nations in the
adjustment and implementation of the development goals. I strongly believe
that through the new `Post-2015' development agenda we will continue our
efforts at seeking solutions and responding to challenges of global nature
stemming from the Millennium Development Goals.
In conclusion, I would like to underline that we have passed the
substantial part of the road leading to shaping the `Post-2015 Development
Agenda' and we will continue our endeavors in this regard by displaying
necessary flexibility in order to bring this process to its logical
conclusion.
I thank you.
Available online at: http://bit.ly/1rntd6B
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress