October 29, 2004

45th Plenary Meeting
Fourth Report of the General Committee (A/59/250/Add.3)

Statement by H.E. Mr. Armen MARTIROSYAN, Ambassador, Permanent
Representative of the Republic of Armenia to the United Nations

Mr. President,

We are facing a situation today when an attempt is being made to introduce a
new agenda item, using procedural loopholes, under the guise of being urgent
with no factual evidence to prove it.

The General Committee, despite the obvious objection by a number of
Committee members to the inclusion of that item, based on valid concerns for
the integrity of the peace process, was forced to take a vote at the demand
of Azerbaijan, thus breaking several decades of consensus tradition in the
General Committee.

Distinguished representatives who spoke in the Committee in favor of
Azerbaijan’s proposal, all representing the OIC, supported the request based
on their membership in that respected organization. However, I would like to
emphasize that the Nagorno Karabagh conflict has no religious connotation.
Attempts by Azerbaijan to artificially add a religious dimension to a
political conflict are inadmissible and dangerous.

My country has always believed in and acted in the spirit of the dialogue
among civilizations. As one of the oldest Christian nations, we have made
our modest contribution to the promotion of this dialogue by strengthening
our centuries-old friendly ties with many Muslim nations.

We are thankful to those OIC members who drew their judgment based on the
specificities of the situation. I would like to appeal to the OIC members
present in this Assembly Hall to consider the issue on its substance, roots
and causes rather than religious affiliations.

Mr. President,

Let me highlight several key points that I believe are crucial in the
consideration of this issue.

First, there is no urgent situation, which justifies the Azerbaijani request
to include of a new item in the agenda of this GA Session. The Explanatory
Memorandum attached to the Azerbaijani request does not provide ANY factual
information of ANY kind, and certainly not of an “urgent character.”

On the contrary: The reasons offered to justify the request are totally
fabricated and misrepresent the actual situation on the ground.

The former autonomous region of Nagorno Karabagh has always been and
continues to be Armenian-populated. So, there is no change in the
demographic situation there. As far as the so-called “settlements” are
concerned, there is NO official policy of ANY kind by ANY official body to
settle the territories that came under the control of local Armenian forces.
None.

This conflict created refugees on BOTH sides. Before the conflict began,
according to the last Soviet Azerbaijani census, there were over 400,000
Armenians living in Azerbaijan’s major cities, far from where the fighting
took place. They were all forcibly driven out of their homes and became
refugees. There are NO Armenians in Azerbaijan today. THEY are the ones who
became refugees and were given the chance to return to Nagorno Karabagh
proper, and ONLY Karabagh, which has always been overwhelmingly Armenian.

The Azerbaijani Government can make all sorts of accusations, can try to
make use of the word “settlement,” which has been loaded with some
connotations transposed from other conflicts, but they are alone in this
exercise. No observers, rapporteurs, officials, no one who has been to the
region has raised the issue of illegal settlements.

Mr. President,

As for the territories surrounding Nagorno Karabagh, they have come under
the control of Nagorno Karabagh Armenians as a result of the war unleashed
by Azerbaijan in an attempt to stifle the peaceful drive of the people of
Nagorno Karabagh for self-determination. Today Azerbaijan tries to
self-victimize itself in the eyes of the international community, yet it is
a victim of the aggressive policies and actions carried out by its OWN
Government. Nagorno Karabagh people responded to this military onslaught the
same way as any other people would — they defended their lives, their
families, their homes and their land.

At present, those territories serve as a buffer zone between Nagorno
Karabagh and Azerbaijan since the conflict has not been settled yet. There
is a 10-year self-maintained ceasefire holding without a single peacekeeper
on the ground separating the conflicting forces. The ceasefire is holding
because of the military balance, an indispensable component of which are
territories. There is regular monthly monitoring by the Personal
Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office and his team. His reports are
presented to the broad OSCE membership. No incident or event of an urgent
character that would “constitute dangerous developments” has been observed
or reported.

Moreover, there are dual track negotiations ongoing between the Presidents
of Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as the foreign ministers. The most recent
presidential meeting was held a month ago, and clearly there were no
dangerous developments or urgent events, which in any way impacted the
negotiations.

Mr. President,

The Nagorno Karabagh peace process has picked up some speed over the last
year. The package of issues under discussion covers the status of Nagorno
Karabagh, security arrangements, territories, refugees and IDPs,
communications and lifting of the blockade. None of these tough, complex
problems can be considered and finally resolved individually and separate
from the package. The experience of the peace negotiations within the Minsk
Group from 1992 to 1997 explicitly demonstrated that it is impossible to
reach a final agreement on the issues of mutual withdrawal from the
territories and return of refugees and IDPs unless there is a clear
understanding on the final status of NK and the security guarantees.

Mr. President,

The current attempts by Azerbaijan mount to the creation of parallel
processes, which would be damaging to the prospects for peace and resolution
to this conflict. Armenia is committed to the negotiations within the Minsk
Group and stands ready to work constructively with the Co-Chairs towards a
comprehensive solution to the Nagorno Karabagh conflict. At the same time, I
am authorized to state that if Azerbaijan separates individual components
from the comprehensive package, then they should negotiate those components
directly with Nagorno Karabagh. And this would be in accordance with the
very Security Council resolutions that Azerbaijan tends to refer selectively
without itself complying with their provisions.

While one could understand some of the concerns expressed, the proposed
action is totally unacceptable. Instead of creating duplication, we shall
make the maximum use of the existing mechanisms by, inter alia, sending a
verification team in order to put these charges to rest once and for all.
Meanwhile, by presenting allegations Azerbaijan creates every obstacle to
the teams attempting to visit the region and assess the situation on the
ground.

I would ask all member states to take action against the request by
Azerbaijan to include this new agenda item, as there is no factually correct
information provided to convince that the issue deserves an urgent
consideration.

Mr. President,

Two days ago, while concluding the meeting of the General Committee, you
announced that the agenda item would be considered under the cluster
“Maintenance of International Peace and Security.” Therefore, this is
exactly the perspective from which we need to look at this issue and make
our judgment on.

The argument of urgency was brought up for the inclusion of a new agenda
item, yet there was no factual justification presented. During the last
several days we heard the argument that this is a procedural issue. Yet this
so-called “procedural” issue may endanger the peace process threatening the
relative peace and stability in the region, as explicitly acknowledged by
several delegations. Facing this potential danger I cannot but pose a
question to this Assembly: Who is going to bear the responsibility for the
possible implications of such so-called “procedural” decisions?

Thank you, Mr. President.
END

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress