Statement from NIPA to IDU
To Chairman The Right Honourable Stephen Harper,
To the party leaders of IDU
By addressing you, I would like to remind you that the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has been going on for more than 30 years. The years between 1992-94, Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions were occupied by Armenian Armed Forces as a result of Russia’s direct military-technical support and the participation of mercenaries.
In connection with the occupation of Azerbaijani lands, four UN Security Council resolutions were adopted in 1993 (22822-30.04.1993; №853-29.07.1993; №874-14.10.1993; №884-12.11.1993).These resolutions recognize Armenia as an aggressor and demand the unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories. There are several resolutions of the European Parliament on the “Strategy of the European Union for the South Caucasus” (The need for an EU strategy for the South Caucasus) dated May 20, 2010 and the Council of Europe in connection with the occupation of Azerbaijani lands by Armenia.
Since 1992, the OSCE Minsk Group, co-chaired by the United States, France and Russia, has been tasked with resolving the conflict. Unfortunately, over the past years, the OSCE Minsk Group has not made any progress, in fact, the Group has served to preserve the problem.
Surprisingly, during this period, neither the Minsk Group co-chairs nor the states that they represent have demanded that Armenia comply with UN Security Council resolutions and withdraw troops from the seven surrounding regions. Hereby, Armenia, encouraged by such a lenient attitude, declared its claim to occupy new territories and repeatedly resorted to military provocations. On the other hand, Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated its readiness to resolve the conflict peacefully.
Minsk Group inactivity encouraged aggressor more and resulted in new provocations, on September 27, 2020, the conflict entered a new active phase. For more than two weeks, the fighting in the Nagorno-Karabakh, which began with another provocation by Armenian Armed Forces, continues with counter-offensive operations of the Azerbaijani army.
Despite the signing of a humanitarian ceasefire agreement between the parties on October 10, Armenia again violated the terms of the agreement. One day after the ceasefire agreement, civilians and residential buildings in Ganja, the second largest city in Azerbaijan, which is hundreds of kilometers away from the military operations zone, came under ballistic missile attack from Armenia. In total, since September 27, 43 civilians, including children and women, have been killed, 206 injured, 1,479 houses, 241 civilian facilities and 66 residential buildings destroyed as a result of Armenian aggression.
I state that Azerbaijan is fully interested in a peaceful resolution of the conflict and has repeatedly stated its readiness to discuss the status of Nagorno-Karabakh.
However, in order to achieve this, it is important for Armenia to unconditionally withdraw its occupying forces from the territory of Azerbaijan in accordance with the 4 UN Security Council resolutions.
Today, the conflict has re-entered the active phase, the only reason for the large number of casualties is Armenia’s non-implementation of UN Security Council resolutions and the failure of the Minsk Group co-chairs to put pressure on Armenia to implement the resolutions.
Distinguished colleagues, I think I was able to explain the importance of putting pressure on Armenia to implement the UN Security Council resolutions in order to end the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and prevent human losses. I hope that by participating in this process, you will also contribute to the establishment of peace in the region.
Sincerely,
Etibar Mammadov,
Leader of National Independence Party of Azerbaijan,
Vice-chairman of IDU.
