TREND News Agency, Azerbaijan
Feb. 22, 2008

Azerbaijan did not Support Kosovo at Winter Session of OSCE
Parliamentary Assembly: MP
22.02.08 19:31

Austria, Vienna, 22 February /corr. Trend News A.Aleskerov / During
the winter session of the OSCE, Azerbaijan did not support one-sided
declaration of Kosovo’s independence and described this decision of
the self-declared bodies as contrasting with the international law.
`Azerbaijan Republic is not capable to recognize legal the situation
created through one-sided activities, which bring to break up of the
national unity and territorial integrity of any country,’ the Vice
Speaker of Azerbaijan Parliament, Bahar Muradova, said while making a
speech at the session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, on 22
February.

Calling Kosovo problem as a unique case, Muradova said that the UN
Security Council’s resolution 1244 clearly describes the frameworks
and future steps to determine the closing status of Kosovo, and does
not present the grounds for actions breaking the national unity and
territorial integrity of Serbia.

`Discrepancies in UN Security Council’s resolution 1244 and absence
of progresses in the political talks between the interested sides can
not be justified through one-sided actions, especially, while the
territorial integrity was accepted as key principle of the
international law,’ Muradova said.

Since 1999, the Kosovo region, which is formally a part of Serbia,
has been controlled by the UN. On 17 Feb, the Parliament of Kosovo
unanimously ratified the declaration of its independence. Belgrade
described the declaration as invalid and called on the international
community to cancel it, due to its contradiction with the
international law. More than the 20 European countries, including
USA, have already recognized Kosovo’s independence.

Azerbaijan, as the other country of the region incurring conflicts on
the base of separatism, is afraid that recognizing Kosovo’s
independence may be a precedent for the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began in
1988, due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since
1992, Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20% of Azerbaijan including
the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven neighboring districts. In
1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement which ended
the active hostilities. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (
Russia, France, and the US) are currently holding the peaceful
negotiations.