Today.Az » Politics » Tural Ganjaliyev: Self-determination principle not relevant in Karabakh conflict
24 June 2020 [10:46] - Today.Az


By Azernews

By Akbar Mammadov

Armenia resorts to the principle of self-determination of peoples to cover up its policy of occupation and annexation, Nagorno-Karabakh's Azerbaijani Community's head Tural Ganjaliyev has said. 

Ganjaliyev made the remakrs in an interview with Azerbaijani National Television’s "H?d?f" program.

“Armenians use various excuses to cover up Armenia's aggressive policy. For example, at the beginning of the conflict, they openly wanted to pursue a policy of annexation by occupying the territories of Azerbaijan. After realizing that this was causing negative reaction in the world, they changed their minds, putting forward the principle of self-determination of peoples,” Ganjaliyev said.

Saying that the principle of self-determination is also available in international law, Ganjaliyev stressed that the ways to implement this principle are different from the way Armenia pursues it.

“In general, this principle cannot be considered in the context of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict: there is a factor of occupation, the aggression, and there are parties to the conflict”, Ganjaliyev said.

Ganjaliyev said that the legal basis of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is based on the international law as expessed in the statments of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs mediating the conflict as well as UNSC resolutions and the recent statement of the EU parliamentaries who condemend Armenia's occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh. 

“If we review documents referred to in the negotiation process between Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as other documents since the 1975 Helsinki Final Act, the principle of self-determination of peoples cannot be opposed to the violation of territorial integrity. It was a principle that emerged as a result of the collapse of the colonial system in the 1960-70s. Regarding that, the UN had many documents and declarations in those years,” Ganjaliyev said.

Ganjaliyev stressed that Armenia resorts to various pretexts and provocations in a bid to strengthen the results of its occupation of Azerbaijani lands.

“Armenia's aggressive policy is being exposed more and more. We see this in the personification of Armenian PM Pashinyan, his team, and the Armenian elite”, said he.

Ganjaliyev also criticized Pashinyan’s rhetorical speeches and provocative statements.

Tural Ganjaliyev is also an elected MP from Khankendi district of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a conflict over Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh breakaway region, which along with seven adjacent regions was occupied by Armenian forces in a war in the early 1990s. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and around one million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France has been mediating the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict since the signing of the volatile cease-fire agreement in 1994. The Minsk Group’s efforts have resulted in no progress and to this date, Armenia has failed to abide by the UN Security Council resolutions (822, 853, 874 and 884) that demand the withdrawal of Armenian military forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.



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