Armenian forces’ presence in Azerbaijani lands main threat to regional peace

By Sara Rajabova - AzerNews 

An Azerbaijani foreign ministry official has said Armenia has once again demonstrated that it is in isolation.

Commenting on the Helsinki Declaration adopted at the summer session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, ministry spokesman Hikmet Hajiyev said the declaration and the resolutions adopted at the session meet Azerbaijan’s interests, the ministry said.

The OSCE PA adopted the 2015 Helsinki Declaration, containing the Assembly’s wide-ranging policy recommendations and pronouncements for the OSCE and its 57 participating states in the fields of political affairs and security, economics, environment and human rights on July 9.

Hajiyev said these recommendations proposed to the OSCE Council of Ministers, which are a manifestation of the strong position of the international community to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, should be regarded as the base principles of the OSCE Minsk Group by its co-chairs and Armenia should be required to implement them.

“Peace and stability can be restored in the region after the removal of Armenia’s occupation and aggression against Azerbaijan and withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied Azerbaijani territories,” Hajiyev said.

He stressed Armenia should understand that it is directly responsible for the fulfillment of the conditions stemming from of these principles in the context of settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.

“Armenia is a side that continues occupation of Azerbaijani lands by force and the side having numerous military forces in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and posing a threat. The presence of Armenia’s occupying forces in the Azerbaijani territory is the main threat to regional peace and security, as well as a source of instability,” Hajiyev said.

The Helsinki declaration reaffirmed the inalienable right of the populations of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine displaced as a result of conflicts to return to their homes in safety and with dignity, and stresses the necessity of creating appropriate conditions for their speedy return.

The OSCE PA adopted a resolution on Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and the inviolability of its borders during the early days of summer session.

Moreover, a high-level delegation from the Azerbaijani foreign ministry attended the informal OSCE meeting to mark the 40th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act.

Speaking at the meeting, the Azerbaijani delegation drew attention to the unresolved conflicts in the OSCE area, stressing that the roots of the crisis in the European security system are in these conflicts accompanied by a clear violation of the principles of interstate relations enshrined in the Helsinki Final Act.

Failure in the resolution of those conflicts for the last 25 years is the most serious threat to peace and security in the OSCE region as a whole, they added.

The Azerbaijani delegation emphasized that distortion of the Helsinki Principles and other obligations of the OSCE by member states and adoption of a selective double-standard approach toward their implementation has led to instability in the OSCE area, as well as stagnation in the resolution of the ongoing conflicts and an increased risk of renewed fighting.

The participants also said some OSCE participating states have distorted the principles of equal rights and self-determination of peoples in order to cover up their illegal actions running contrary to international law–such as the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, annexation by the use of force of a territory, and forced migration of people from their homelands – cause conflicts and hamper their solutions.

The Azerbaijani delegation highlighted that strengthening the observance of OSCE principles without the selective double-standard approach could contribute to the resolution of the conflicts.

It was noted that the Helsinki Final Act maintains its importance in the context of interstate relations among the absolute majority of participating states and the way out of the current crisis in the European security system is the unconditional observance of “Helsinki Decalogue.” The importance of respecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of states, inviolability of internationally recognized borders, and intensifying efforts to resolve conflicts was underlined.