Azerbaijan expects UN reaction to illegal settlement of Armenians – minister

Bilik Dunyasi news agency
29 Mar 05

BAKU

Azerbaijan believes that the UN General Assembly must express its
position on the report of the OSCE mission on the illegal settlement
of Armenians in the occupied Azerbaijani territories. “In any case,
the settlement of the occupied territories is illegal both in terms of
international law and as a general fact. The Armenians have never
lived in the occupied lands around Nagornyy Karabakh,” Azerbaijani
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov told journalists.

The co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group also confirm Azerbaijan’s
official position. They agree that the issue should stay on the agenda
so that it can be revisited at some point because the illegal
settlement influences the settlement process.

The minister said that the UN General Assembly must express its
position on the mission’s report because the UN Security Council deals
with ongoing conflicts.

“Since our conflict is frozen, the General Assembly should make its
stand first,” Mammadyarov said. Azerbaijan submitted its version of
the draft resolution to this entity in October last year, but agreed
that the General Assembly should not put it to a vote because the OSCE
factfinding mission was expected to examine cases of illegal
settlement in the occupied lands.

Azerbaijan has already distributed the report of the mission within
the UN.