UN assembly tells Armenia to get out of Azerbaijan

REUTERS

Fri Mar 14 21:48:37 UTC 2008 By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS, March 14 (Reuters) - The U.N. General Assembly on Friday demanded that Armenian forces withdraw from all occupied territories in Azerbaijan, but key mediators in the Azeri-Armenia dispute rejected the non-binding resolution. In an Azeri-drafted resolution, the assembly called for "the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal from all the occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan." Although the largely symbolic resolution was adopted, only 39 out of 192 members of the U.N. General Assembly voted for it. Seven countries, including Armenia, the United States, France and Russia, voted against it. There were 100 abstentions and many other countries chose not to participate in the vote, which Western diplomats said was a reflection of the fact that most people felt the Azeri resolution was not a balanced picture of the problem. "This resolution was not helpful," said a diplomat from one of the three co-chairs of the Minsk Group -- Russia, the United States and France. The Minsk Group is a committee of countries working to bring about a peaceful resolution of the disagreement over Nagorno-Karabakh, the disputed Caucasus mountain enclave. The group was established by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 1992. A U.S. statement on the resolution said the three Minsk Group co-chairs all voted against the resolution because they agreed it represented a "unilateral" view of the dispute. European Union president Slovenia issued a statement that said the Minsk Group should continue to deal with the issue. "The EU calls on the parties concerned to avoid any actions which could lead to heightened tensions and which could undermine the ongoing mediation efforts," it said. Last week Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said Kosovo's newly declared independence from Serbia had emboldened Armenian separatists in Azerbaijan's mountainous enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan have accused each other of stoking the recent violence there. (Editing by Eric Walsh). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF UN MEMBER STATES DO NOT SUPPORT AZERBAIJAN'S POSITION ON NAGORNO KARABAKH armradio.am 15.03.2008 11:26 On Friday March 14, the United Nations General Assembly voted on a draft resolution introduced by Azerbaijan in which Azerbaijan attempted to secure international support for its own desired outcome for the Nagorno Karabakh resolution process. The OSCE Minsk Group Co-chair countries - US, France and the Russian Federation - voted against the resolution as did Armenia and a few other countries. Over 150 countries abstained or did not vote. Only 39 countries supported the resolution, out of organizational affinity with either GUAM or the Organization of Islamic Conference. Although the non-binding resolution passed the General Assembly, the rejection of Azerbaijan's position by an overwhelming majority is a barometer of the mood of the international community on this issue. "I hope Azerbaijan got the message from the international community. Taking the lead of the co-chairs, a majority of member states repelled the one-sided approach," said Armenia's Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian. Minister Oskanian characterized the resolution as hypocritical. "On the one hand, in an effort to disinform member states, the resolution included a paragraph that supports the OSCE Minsk Process. On the other hand, Azerbaijan blatantly ignored the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs position. The co-chair countries had made clear they would not support the resolution and in fact voted against the resolution." "Now we wonder what Azerbaijan's next move will be," he said. "We question whether this resolution was intended to derail the negotiating process or whether they got the clear message and will return to the negotiating table to work on a negotatied, compromise lasting solution." At a press conference earlier in the week, Minister Oskanian had stated that President-Elect Serge Sargsyan would be prepared to meet with the Azerbaijani President at the earliest possibility, if the co-chairs find this useful and if Azerbaijan accepts. "This opportunity exists," Oskanian said. "The ball is clearly in Azerbaijan's court." "Rejecting Azerbaijan's resolution, the international community has indicated its support for the negotiating document on the table today which has successfully managed to reconcile the two seemingly contradictory principles of the Helsinki Final Act -- people's right to self-determination and territorial integrity," explained Armenia's Foreign Minister. "This document presents a unique opportunity for Azerbaijanis and Armenians to move forward. This is precisely what sets the Nagorno Karabakh conflict apart in our region and in Europe and makes it sui generis, not only because of its legal and historical context, but also because of the innovative negotiating approach to finding a realistic, lasting resolution." Earlier the same day, had met with the co-chairs of the Minsk Group, who had discussed the possibility of the resumption of talks, the UN resolution and the situation on the Nagorno Karabakh-Azerbaijan line of contact. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY SUPPORTS RESOLUTION ON SITUATION IN OCCUPIED TERRITORIES OF AZERBAIJAN Trend News Agency March 14 2008 Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, Baku, 14 March / Trend News / On 14 March the UN General Assembly supported the Resolution on Situation in Occupied Territories of Azerbaijan, which was presented by the Azerbaijani side. Some 39 countries voted for and seven countries against the resolution. 100 members abstained voting. The Resolution highlights serious concerns that the armed conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh territory of Azerbaijan and its surrounding regions is continuing presenting threats for the international peace and security and adversely affects the humanitarian situation in the South Caucasus countries. The UN General Assembly urges the member-countries to respect and support sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan within its internationally recognized borders. "The General Assembly again states that no country should recognize legal the situation created as a result of occupation of the Azerbaijani territories. No country should promote or assist continuation of the situation," the adopted document says. In a new resolution Azerbaijan calls on UN Secretary General to deliver a comprehensive report to implement the resolution. The draft resolution requires an immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of all Armenian Armed Forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan urges UN member states to confirm the indefeasible right of the people driven out from the occupied lands of Azerbaijan to return to their land and states the need to provide conditions for them to do so including the full rehabilitation of the territories damaged by the conflict. Oskanian Meets Karabakh Mediators Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian met international mediators in Vienna to discuss ways of kick-starting the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process and, in particular, organizing a fresh Armenian-Azerbaijani summit, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said on Friday. The United Nations General Assembly, meanwhile, passed a controversial resolution that refers to Karabakh as an internationally recognized part of Azerbaijan. It also demands an `immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian forces' from occupied Azerbaijani lands. Oskanian promtply downplayed the resolution, saying that only 39 UN member states, most of them affiliated with Organization of Islamic Conference, voted for it, while over 150 other nations abstained or did not vote. `We question whether this resolution was intended to derail the negotiating process or whether [Azerbaijan] got the clear message and will return to the negotiating table to work on a negotatied, compromise lasting solution,' he said in a statement. Oskanian said on Thursday that the first-ever face-to-face meeting Armenia's Prime Minister and President-elect Serzh Sarkisian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev could take place on the sidelines of a NATO summit to be held in Romania's capital Bucharest on April 3-4. He said Sarkisian will take part in the summit at the head of an official Armenian delegation. `If there is such proposal and if the Azerbaijani side agrees to it, the newly elected president will be ready to have his first contact with the president of Azerbaijan,' Oskanian told a news conference in Yerevan. Aliev's chief foreign policy aide, Novruz Mammadov, said on Friday that the Azerbaijani leader is ready to meet his new Armenian counterpart. `If we receive such a proposal from the co-chairs and if the president of Azerbaijan takes part in the NATO summit, he will conside it,' Mammadov told the Azerbaijani news agency Trend. The Foreign Ministry in Yerevan did not say if Oskanian reached any agreement on such a meeting with the U.S., Russian and French co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. The group's U.S. co-chair, Matthew Bryza, visited Baku and Yerevan last week following the outbreak of worst fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces near Karabakh. The warring sides blamed each other for the deadly skirmishes that dealt a blow to the mediators hopes of brokering an Armenian-Azerbaijani framework on Karabakh this year. Bryza and his Russian and French counterparts sounded optimistic about chances of such an agreement during their most recent joint trip to the conflict zone in January. In a joint statement late last week, they urged Baku and Yerevan to `redouble their efforts to endorse the Basic Principles for the peaceful resolution of the conflict presented to the sides on the margins of the Madrid OSCE Ministerial in November 2007, and to begin as soon as possible the process of drafting a peace agreement on this basis.' U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed doubt on Wednesday that the conflict can be resolved anytime soon. "In the immediate future I don't know that Nagorno-Karabakh can get solved," she told a congressional hearing in Washington. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MPS IN NK URGE INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION Mediamax March 13 2008 Armenia Yerevan, 13 March. "Democracy", "Homeland" and "Dashnaktsutyun-Movement-88" factions of the parliament of the Nagornyy Karabakh republic (NKR) made a statement in connection with Kosovo independence proclamation. Mediamax reports that the statement expressed support for the right of free self-determination and welcomes the stance of the international community as to the issue of respecting the civil rights of the majority of Kosovo population. The document reads that "in the course of decades, the Azerbaijani authorities consequently carried out against the indigenous Armenian population of Nagornyy Karabakh a policy of discrimination, limitation of civil rights, ethnic cleansings and forced deportation, the tragic consequences of which could exclusively be prevented by means of organized self-defence". The MPs expressed hope that "by means of talks, it is possible to reach a decision, which would be mutually acceptable for the sides, and which would guarantee the international recognition of the fact of free self-determination of Nagornyy Karabakh". The factions of the national assembly of the NKR urged the parliaments of countries of the world "to be more consequent as to the issue of recognizing the states, which have formed based on the right of self-determination of nations, and refrain from double standards". ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~