Azerbaijan, 2004

I would like to join previous

speakers in congratulating you, Mr. President, on your

election to the presidency of the fifty-ninth session of

the General Assembly. I also wish to congratulate your

predecessor, Mr. Julian Robert Hunte, for his

exemplary stewardship of the Assembly during his

presidency of the fifty-eighth session.

At the Millennium Summit, Member States

committed themselves to a shared vision of global

solidarity and common security. We reaffirmed our

faith in the United Nations and its Charter as

indispensable for a more peaceful, secure and just

world. As we have entered the new century we have

done our best to maintain the vital importance of

international law, so that all countries may be able to

count on the Organization in their hour of need and so

that, in turn, the United Nations can fulfil what the

world expects from it.

Some of our actions sought to protect millions of

innocent people, especially women and children, who

still fall victim to brutal armed conflicts. Others

endeavoured to establish a more equitable world

economy, where all countries must have equal chances

at fair competition.

Azerbaijan is making its own contribution to the

strengthening of global and regional security. As an active

member of the global coalition against international

terrorism, Azerbaijan is faithfully cooperating,

bilaterally and within multilateral frameworks, to

suppress this evil that continues to bring death and

suffering to innocent peoples. Azerbaijan is among the

countries that have suffered directly from the

consequences of armed conflicts on its territory. In

reality those conflicts are interlinked, and we have no

other choice but to face them in cooperation and unity.

There should be no room for double standards.

Since the very day it became a member of the

United Nations, Azerbaijan has constantly drawn the

attention of the international community to the conflict

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between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-

Karabakh and to the occupation by Armenia of

Azerbaijani territories. Azerbaijan expected the United

Nations to compel the aggressor to move out of its land

and to allow the expelled Azerbaijani population to

return to their homes. I should like to recall that, in

1993, the Security Council unanimously adopted four

resolutions — resolutions 822 (1993), 853 (1993), 874

(1993) and 884 (1993) — in response to Armenia’s

occupation of sovereign Azerbaijani territories.

Those resolutions confirmed that the region of

Nagorno-Karabakh was part of Azerbaijan, resolutely

called for respect for the sovereignty and territorial

integrity of Azerbaijan and its internationally

recognized borders, and underlined the inadmissibility of

the use of force for the purpose of acquiring territory.

The resolutions demanded an immediate, complete and

unconditional withdrawal of occupying forces from all

occupied areas of Azerbaijan and called for the

establishment of conditions for the safe return of

displaced people to their places of permanent residence.

None of those resolutions — which were intended

to restore justice and peace and the territorial integrity

of Azerbaijan — has been implemented by Armenia,

which never respected or recognized the fundamental

principles of international law contained in the

resolutions that laid down the basis for the settlement

of the conflict. Nagorno-Karabakh and seven other

regions of Azerbaijan, which make up 20 per cent of

the territory of Azerbaijan, have been occupied by

Armenia for more than 10 years. As a result of the

policy of ethnic cleansing conducted by Armenia, more

than 1 million of Azerbaijan’s people have become

refugees or internally displaced persons.

The silence of the Security Council has had a

devastating impact on the resettlement process.

Armenia has ignored the resolutions and has attempted

to consolidate the results of its military aggression —

and it has not been punished for it. Armenia

consequently launched an outrageous policy involving

massive illegal settlement of an Armenian population

in occupied Azerbaijani territories. That also is a

blatant violation of international law, and in particular

of the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the

Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.

Moreover, the situation has deteriorated, with those

territories being used for drug trafficking, arms

transfers, the harbouring of terrorists, illegal economic

activities and smuggling. The occupied Azerbaijani

territories have become a kind of grey zone out of the

control of Azerbaijan’s Government and free from any

international monitoring.

The self-proclaimed, non-recognized so-called

Nagorno-Karabakh republic is a constant threat to

peace and security in the whole region. Armenian

aggressors and Nagorno-Karabakh separatists are also

exploiting natural resources in the occupied

Azerbaijani territories and are attempting to engage

overseas companies in their illegal business. I call

upon Member States to take all necessary measures to

make their nationals and companies respect

international law and to prevent them from illegal

activities on the territory of our country. For its part,

Azerbaijan will undertake all necessary legal and

practical measures to hold those companies

accountable for participation in the stealing of the

natural wealth belonging to a sovereign nation.

Furthermore, Armenia is falsifying history and

misappropriating the cultural and architectural heritage

of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

Religious and historical monuments, ancient

manuscripts and other cultural properties have been

destroyed, refashioned, plundered or removed.

The process of political settlement of the conflict

that has been conducted within the Minsk Group of the

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe

(OSCE) during the last 12 years has thus far yielded no

results. No serious consideration has been given by the

Minsk Group to the implementation of the Security

Council’s resolutions, to assessing the situation on the

ground or to the illegal activities carried out by

Armenia in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

It is obvious that, under the current passive and

silent attitude of the United Nations, the Security

Council, the OSCE and the Minsk Group, and without

strong pressure from the international community,

Armenia will not abandon its aggressive and

destructive stance. The illegal actions of Armenia in

occupied Azerbaijani territories and its position in the

negotiating process prove that Armenia is not intent on

finding a solution to the problem. Rather, it intends to

further prolong the negotiations and to consolidate the

results of its aggression, while trying ultimately to

impose a fait-accompli-based settlement.

I wish to stress from this podium that a settlement

of this issue must be based only on international law

and democracy, not on ethnic cleansing and the de

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facto annexation of the territory of a sovereign State.

Azerbaijan will never accept the occupation of its

territory, the violation of its territorial integrity or the

results of ethnic cleansing.

The return of Azerbaijan’s displaced population

to their homes remains one of our key priorities in the

process of settling the conflict. But even before our

expelled people, refugees and internally displaced

persons come back home, there is still an urgent need

for all the relevant United Nations agencies, donor

countries and international humanitarian organizations

to be actively involved in addressing the suffering of

the most affected part of population.

The Government of Azerbaijan does not spare

time, effort or financial resources to do its part; but

given the scale of displacement, that is not sufficient.

Burden-sharing between the Government and relevant

international organizations is crucial. In addition to

purely material support, we also request a renewal of

international attention to the problem and better

coordination on the part of the United Nations and its

specialized agencies, as well as efforts by all international

organizations. We expect a more responsive strategy by

the United Nations with regard to the state of the

forgotten humanitarian crisis in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan is fully committed to the objectives of

poverty eradication and to the promotion of good

governance. On that basis, and as a result of the

measures we have undertaken, we are currently seeing

increased economic performance and growth.

Azerbaijan is making its contribution to the

development of transregional cooperation. We are also

promoting such transportation and communication

networks as the Transport Corridor Europe Caucasus

Asia project and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-

Tbilisi-Erzerum oil and gas pipelines. Those projects

will ensure predictable access for the exports of land-

locked countries to world and regional markets.

The United Nations has to adapt itself in order to

successfully tackle all the challenges it faces. The

long-standing issue of United Nations reform needs

finally to be resolved. The inability of the Security

Council to cope with problems, and particularly those

related to armed conflicts, is obvious. The new

Security Council should be more representative,

responsible and democratic. Its working methods must

be more transparent and able to respond more rapidly

to the new challenges, risks and threats of the twenty-

first century. Developing viable mechanisms for the

implementation of Security Council resolutions is also

a pressing issue.

It is the obligation of all of us to collectively

apply effective approaches to current problems,

thereby enabling a stable environment for the

sustainable growth and democratic development of

nations. That can only be achieved through

strengthening the norms and principles of international

law and through friendly relations and mutually

beneficial cooperation among States.