Azerbaijan, 2006

At the outset, I

would like to congratulate Ms. Haya Rashed

Al-Khalifa on her election to the presidency of the

sixty-first session of the General Assembly and wish

her every success during her tenure.

I would like also to extend my sincere thanks to

her predecessor, my good friend Mr. Jan Eliasson,

Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden, for his efforts

and active work with the delegations throughout the

last session.

The 2005 High-level Plenary Meeting of the

Assembly became an important milestone in the history

of the United Nations. It reaffirmed our faith in the

Organization and our unwavering interest to make it

stronger and effective. I am pleased to emphasize the

positive moves that we have made since last September

on issues such as development, the environment,

HIV/AIDS, Secretariat reform, establishment of the

Central Emergency Response Fund and the

Peacebuilding Fund.

The founding of the Peacebuilding Commission

and the Human Rights Council are remarkable

moments in the history of the United Nations. Yet more

remains to be done to realize our common vision of

solidarity and collective security, which is premised on

the shared values and principles of the Charter.

As we move towards such ambitious goals, it is

increasingly apparent that multilateralism with a strong

United Nations at its core remains the only reliable

instrument for maintaining international peace and

security, achieving sustainable development and

promoting respect for human rights and fundamental

freedoms.

Strengthening the deliberative and decision-

making authority of the General Assembly, which

represents the views of all Member States, is key to the

successful implementation and effectiveness of the

reforms.

Azerbaijan believes that reform of the Security

Council should not be confined to enlargement of its

membership. We stand for the rationalization of the

Council’s working methods, greater transparency in

decision-making, accountability in performance and

full implementation of its resolutions.

The election of the new Secretary-General is an

event of the utmost importance for the Organization. It

has already been revealed to suffer from a number of

deficiencies and requires greater transparency and

inclusion of the wider membership. Azerbaijan

believes that the new head of the United Nations

should clearly recognize the trends and challenges

faced by the international community at the beginning

of the twenty-first century.

Azerbaijan regrets that the late response of the

Security Council to the evolving crisis in the Middle

East allowed the humanitarian tragedy to unfold. In

that regard, implementation of the measures contained

in Security Council resolution 1701 (2006), including

those related to the Lebanese Government’s seven-

point peace plan, is very important for bringing durable

peace to the Middle East. Azerbaijan will continue its

efforts to contribute to the peaceful resolution of the

conflict and alleviate the sufferings of civilians in

Lebanon.

I would like to express profound support for the

States that have fallen victim to terrorist attacks. While

strongly condemning terrorism in all its forms and

manifestations and reaffirming our commitment to

jointly fight that global scourge, we register our serious

concern over attempts to link terrorism to the Islamic

religion, culture or people.

There is a dire need to stop and reverse a growing

tendency towards Islamophobia in the world.

Azerbaijan, in its capacity as Chairman of the

Ministerial Council of the Organization of the Islamic

Conference (OIC) calls upon Member States to

undertake concrete measures to enhance dialogue and

21 06-53341

broaden understanding among nations, cultures and

religions by promoting tolerance and respect for

freedom of religion and belief. It is of vital importance

to raise public awareness about the tenets and values of

Islam worldwide, including in the Muslim societies. To

that end, we plan to host in Baku in 2007, under the

aegis of the OIC, an international conference on the

role of the mass media in developing tolerance and

mutual understanding.

The situation in the occupied territories of

Azerbaijan has recently become a subject of urgent

consideration by the General Assembly, due to the

massive fires occurring in those territories. The

Assembly adopted without a vote a resolution stressing

the necessity to conduct an urgent environmental

operation with a view to suppressing the fires,

overcoming their detrimental impact and rehabilitating

the affected territories. The resolution has a two-fold

purpose. On the one hand, it envisages a number of

practical steps, including an assessment of the short-

and long-term impact of the fires on the environment

as a step in preparation for the environmental

operation, counteracting the environmental degradation

of the region, and the rehabilitation of the fire-affected

part of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. On the

other, it serves as an unprecedented example of

engaging the parties to the conflict, particularly

Armenia and Azerbaijan, in a joint environmental

operation to be carried out directly in the fire-affected

zone. The implementation of the resolution will

contribute to establishing an atmosphere of trust and

confidence and will give positive impetus to the

negotiation process.

Sadly, that is the only positive development so far

and cannot be attributed to the overall situation

concerning the settlement process. Although no

substantial progress has been registered so far, the

parties and mediators have accepted the stage-by-stage

approach in the settlement process as the only possible

option. Basically, there are two main issues on which

the parties disagree — the definition of the status of

self-rule for the population of the occupied Nagorny

Karabakh region and the withdrawal of Armenian

forces from all the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

There is a common understanding that the status

cannot be defined today. It should be elaborated

through a peaceful, democratic and legal process with

the direct participation and consent of both Azerbaijani

and Armenian communities of the Nagorny Karabakh

region. To that end, the Armenian occupying forces

have to withdraw from the occupied territories and the

necessary conditions have to be in place to allow the

secure and dignified return of the indigenous

Azerbaijani displaced persons to the Nagorny

Karabakh region and the surrounding territories of

Azerbaijan.

Such a logical chain of events will establish the

necessary conditions for the next stage of the

settlement, which is normalizing life in the conflict-

affected area, restoring intercommunal relations,

launching socio-economic development and

considering appropriate models of self-rule for the

entire population of the region within Azerbaijan.

Our position is based on relevant resolutions of

the Security Council and decisions of the Organization

for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which

unequivocally demand the unconditional withdrawal of

the occupying forces from all occupied territories of

the Republic of Azerbaijan, the restoration of its

sovereignty and territorial integrity, the creation of

favourable conditions for the safe return of the civilian

population, the restoration of intercommunal relations,

and the elaboration of the status of self-government

within a democratic and legal process, based on the

agreement of both communities of the region.

It is difficult to hope for a breakthrough in the

negotiations when Armenia rejects face-to-face

meetings and refuses to take a constructive approach to

solving existing problems. What is more worrisome is

that Armenia is attempting to support by all available

means the separatist regime established under its

control in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and to

spread myths and legends about the historical past and

the alleged democratic and economic achievements of

the regime. As a matter of fact, the reality on the

ground proves the opposite. The Armenian community,

which is the only remaining part of the entire

population of the Nagorny Karabakh region of

Azerbaijan, is increasingly inclined to leave the

unrecognized quasi-entity due to worsening living

conditions and the lack of any prospect of economic

and social development.

The dynamics of development of the entire region

are strikingly evident, and in five or 10 years the

economic growth of the region vis-à-vis Armenia will

be much more impressive. It could be given a chance

to join ongoing regional and transnational projects, but

06-53341 22

prior to that Yerevan has to take a number of steps to

establish normal relations with its neighbours.

The first plenary meetings of the Assembly under

the presidency of Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa

were marked by an extremely difficult debate over an

issue that was procedural in nature, but had a

substantial political bearing. I join my colleagues from

the States members of the Georgia, Ukraine,

Azerbaijan, Moldova Organization for Democracy and

Economic Development (GUAM) in commending her

wisdom and efforts aimed at ensuring that the rules of

this house serve the interests of all Member States.

Procedural disadvantages should not constrain the

Member States from bringing critical issues affecting

their security to the attention of the Assembly.

The GUAM heads of State, in their Joint

Declaration on the issue of conflict settlement, called

upon States and international organizations to further

facilitate, within their competence, conflict settlement

processes in the GUAM area. Therefore, the inclusion

of the new item on conflicts in the GUAM area in the

agenda of the General Assembly is an attempt to raise

the awareness of the Assembly of dangerous

developments emerging from those unresolved

conflicts.

The pledges we have made to promote better

standards of living in larger freedom nourish the faith

of people around the world in future positive change

and development. Hence, there is no greater imperative

than to fulfil the development agenda and to strengthen

global partnership for development.

Azerbaijan is convinced that national

development strategies should be a principal

framework of development cooperation and support.

Efficiency in the implementation process cannot be

achieved unless it employs measures targeted at

increasing the self-sufficiency of countries in the long

run, inter alia, through knowledge, capacity-building,

infrastructure development and market access and,

ultimately, by reducing their dependence on foreign

aid. A favourable global economic situation remains a

prerequisite for the success of national development

strategies, macroeconomic policies and, eventually, the

economic and financial stability and growth of

countries.

Azerbaijan believes that international

organizations should support the efforts of countries to

improve and sustain their economic performance. We

look forward to the contribution of the United Nations

with a stronger and more effective Economic and

Social Council capable of effectively discharging its

newly assigned functions.

Let me now describe the economic outlook for

Azerbaijan and its experience in enhancing growth,

development and social well-being. In the light of

trends in 2005, gross domestic product is expected to

increase by 30.5 per cent in 2006, driven by oil and gas

production and exports. In 2006, State spending has

been increased by up to 65 per cent, a large proportion

being spent on the public sector and infrastructure. The

key challenge facing the Government is to create a

favourable environment for investment in the non-oil

sector and to diversify exports. To achieve this

objective, it must keep domestic reforms on track and

strive to strengthen the business environment.

The year 2006 marked a historic moment for the

region and beyond, with the official inauguration of the

Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline. We are

looking forward to completion of the Baku-Tbilisi-

Erzerum natural gas pipeline this fall and remain

committed to contributing to global energy security. At

the same time, we are actively developing

transregional infrastructure projects, in particular the

Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad, which has been recognized

as an important addition to the East-West and North-

South transportation corridors.

Last but not least, the establishment of the

Human Rights Council marked a critical step towards

enhancing the universal system for promoting and

protecting human rights worldwide. The Council has

been endowed with the necessary mandate to give

human rights the central role foreseen by the Charter,

and its status is that of a subsidiary body of the General

Assembly. We have to build effective mechanisms,

such as universal periodic review, special procedures

and a complaints procedure within the Council. As a

newly elected member of the Human Rights Council,

Azerbaijan reiterates its readiness to cooperate with

other Member States in order to ensure that the new

Council becomes an effective body guided by the

principles of universality, objectivity and non-

selectivity and that it bases its activity on constructive

and transparent dialogue and cooperation.