Armenia, 2011

I would first like to thank and wish every success to

Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, President of the

General Assembly at its sixty-sixth session, and to

thank Mr. Deiss of Switzerland for his leadership

during the sixty-fifth session. I would also like to take

this opportunity to once again congratulate Secretary-

General Ban Ki-moon on his appointment to a second

term in office.

I would like to acknowledge the importance of

the choice of theme for this general debate, and to

highlight the role of mediation in the settlement of

disputes by peaceful means and as a way of preventing

the resumption of hostilities.

We greatly appreciate the mediation efforts of

global and regional entities and organizations in

various parts of the world to preserve peace and

security and to settle conflicts through peaceful

negotiations. Particularly worth mentioning is the

engagement of regional organizations, which have

gained a great deal of experience in mediation and

have in-depth knowledge of political, cultural and

military realities on the ground. The success of

mediation hinges, among other things, on the

articulation of a clearly defined mandate. A case in

point for us has been the role of the Minsk Group of

the Organization for Security and Cooperation in

Europe (OSCE) in settling the Nagorno Karabakh

conflict.

Another key factor worth highlighting here is the

role of mediators in preventing the escalation of

conflict and a resumption of hostilities. This aspect of

mediation is sometimes overlooked, yet it is of no less

importance to international peace and stability than is

finding a solution to a contentious matter.

Three years ago, when I had the honour to speak

from this rostrum (see A/63/PV.9), I said that the time

had come for serious consideration of people’s right to

self-determination in the twenty-first century. Today,

we are witnessing new instances of people exercising

this inalienable right. In that context, I would like to

congratulate the newly elected 193rd Member of the

United Nations, the Republic of South Sudan. Its road

to a seat in this Hall has been long and difficult, but the

people of South Sudan, through the free expression of

their will, have exercised their right to live as a

sovereign, independent nation, thus pursuing the path

that many of the Member States represented here today

have taken.

The people of Nagorno Karabakh made the same

choice two decades ago by exercising their right to

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self-determination, withstanding the war unleashed by

Azerbaijan, and surviving bloodshed to earn their right

to live in freedom. The Nagorno Karabakh conflict

settlement talks are continuing with the mediation of

the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. We are grateful to

the co-chair countries and their leaders for their

mediation efforts. However, it is the negotiating

parties, not the mediators, who have to reach an

agreement. Azerbaijan’s utter unwillingness to reach an

agreement and its everything-or-war position have

stalled progress in the peace talks. Despite the

expectations and high-level advice of the international

community, Azerbaijan took yet another step backward

during the last meeting in Kazan by rejecting the

previously formulated arrangement and in fact trying to

make the negotiation process break down.

Baku has turned Armenophobia into State

propaganda at a level that is way beyond dangerous.

That is not just our view; the alarm has also been

sounded by international entities specializing in

combating racism and intolerance. Even more

dangerously, Armenophobic ideas are spreading among

the young Azeri generation, imperilling the future of

peaceful coexistence. By denying and destroying all

things Armenian, Baku stubbornly continues to

disseminate false accusations against Armenia,

Nagorno Karabakh and Armenians at all levels

everywhere, including here, within the framework of

the United Nations. Azerbaijan’s propaganda machine

continues to regularly bombard the international

community and its domestic audience with horrendous

lies about so-called Armenian brutality and the killing

of children. These stories are fabricated and

disseminated based on their authors’ shallow yet

painful logic, which posits that there are some people

out there who will rise to the bait of this evil

propaganda against Armenia and that it will thus serve

a purpose.

In recent years, owing to the efforts of the Minsk

Group co-chair countries, particularly direct mediation

on the part of the President of the Russian Federation,

a number of documents have been signed, including the

Meindorf, Astrakhan and Sochi declarations, which

have stressed the need to strengthen confidence-

building measures between the parties. The signature

of the President of Azerbaijan is also on those

documents. Azerbaijan, however, continues to turn

down repeated proposals from the international

community concerning agreement on the non-use of

force and the strengthening of confidence-building

measures.

Moreover, Azerbaijan’s belligerent rhetoric and

threats of war have intensified, and ceasefire violations

that continue to deprive innocent civilians of their lives

have grown more frequent. All of this is orchestrated at

the highest State level. The dangerous rise in

manifestations of Armenophobia not only does not

contribute to an atmosphere of trust in the region, but

also leads to questions about Azerbaijan’s

understanding of the United Nations goals of tolerance

and good-neighbourly coexistence. With such

aspirations, it is impermissible and even dangerous to

aspire to membership in the Security Council.

Yesterday, in the framework of the Assembly,

alongside debates on some of the most vital and urgent

issues of our time, a High-level meeting was convened

yesterday on the tenth anniversary of the Durban

Declaration, which reiterated the urgent need to

eliminate racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and

all forms of intolerance. Unfortunately, these

phenomena are familiar to us Armenians not only from

the examples I mentioned earlier and not only from this

century. As a nation that has survived genocide, the

most extreme form of racism and xenophobia, we are

morally obliged to act to prevent future genocides.

The elimination of racism and xenophobia and

the inculcation of tolerance can be truly effective if

accompanied by a clear prescription of liability.

Impunity and the avoidance of accountability give birth

to yet new crimes. Hence, it is incumbent upon the

international community to identify and denounce

without delay any expression of intolerance, especially

in its extreme forms.

The genocide of the Armenians perpetrated under

the Ottoman Empire has been recognized and

condemned by numerous countries, parliaments,

international organizations and the community of

genocide scholars. Unfortunately, the same does not

hold true for the Republic of Turkey, which continues

to engage in a policy of denying this atrocious crime

against humanity.

We unequivocally welcome the clear position

adopted by the international community in precluding

any possibility of immunity or pardon for the

perpetrators of genocide and other crimes against

humanity. Without recognition and condemnation, it

will be impossible to develop and implement effective

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mechanisms of prevention, which is a United Nations

priority. Armenia will contribute its utmost to the

recognition, punishment and prevention of genocide.

These references to the Armenian genocide lead

me to recall another important celebration marked this

year: the 150th birthday of Fridtjof Nansen, the first

High Commissioner for Refugees. In the most difficult

period for my nation, that great humanist rendered

priceless support to the survival of the homeland-

deprived fragments of the Armenian people who had

fled the genocide. Holders of Nansen passports settled

in various countries of the world. They rose to their

feet and partook in the development of the countries

and peoples that offered them refuge. I believe that

justice and equal rights between States have become

standards in international relations thanks to such

powerful individuals, who promoted their vision of

morality in the cruel world of realpolitik.

Speaking from this rostrum in 2008, I expressed

the hope that the Armenia-Turkey normalization

process initiated by us, the establishment of diplomatic

relations and the opening of the borders closed by

Turkey, in violation of international law, would become

the first steps towards the launch of a dialogue to

overcome the climate of mistrust, suspicion and

uncertainty between us. Although our initiative was

commended and widely supported by the international

community, Turkey has in all ways possible aborted the

ratification and implementation of the protocols we

signed in 2009.

Today, on the eve of the Rio United Nations

Conference on Sustainable Development, political will

must be exerted to honour the international

commitments to convert the South Caucasus into a

region of cooperation and prosperity.

The correlation between security and

development is not an abstract theory for our region,

where economic cooperation and deeper integration

with the global economy are hampered by unlawful

blockades and the obstruction of regional integration

projects. Those attitudes, alongside the fuelling of an

arms race, not only pose a danger to the peoples of the

region, but also continue to drain the resources direly

needed for sustainable development.

The time has come for the leaders of the countries

of our region to stand above the dictates of narrow

political agendas and to move towards solutions aimed

at a peaceful and prosperous future for generations to

come. I want to believe that, in the not-too-distant

future, our region will be perceived as a solid and firm

bridge uniting civilizations, rather than as a dividing

line.

Two days ago, the Republic of Armenia

celebrated the twentieth anniversary of its

independence. In September 1991, Armenia restored its

independence, realizing the dream of the Armenian

people and reuniting with the family of nations. In the

realm of history, 20 years may seem like a short time,

but for the current generation it has served as a time of

great change, with the building of independent

statehood and a renewed perception of its role and

place in the world. I take this opportunity to express

my gratitude to all the States, peoples and individuals

that have supported us in these 20 years of

development and State-building.

Freedom, peace and democracy are our choice,

and we are committed to this path. We are proud of our

achievements today. In two decades, the Republic of

Armenia has implemented a wide-scale programme of

State-building. Much has been done in the fields of

democratization, the protection of human rights,

economic reform, and the establishment of the rule of

law and a liberal economy. We have achieved much,

but much remains to be done. Above all, we are

convinced that we are on the right path — a path that is

irreversible.

Exactly a decade ago, New York, the city that is

home to the United Nations, experienced one of the

worst atrocities in the history of humankind — the 9/11

terrorist attacks. Armenia unconditionally supports and

actively contributes to the international community’s

counter-terrorism efforts and all the initiatives of the

United Nations in this area. We are doing and will

continue to do our best to make the world a safer and

more peaceful place.

We stand ready, to the best of our abilities, to

contribute to global security and respond to global

threats, be it through peacekeeping missions, the

elimination of the consequences of natural disasters,

environmental protection or the fight against terrorism,

racism and intolerance. Over the years, we have proven

our aspirations and determination with deeds, and we

stand ready to continue doing the same.