BAKU SEEKS PEACEFUL SOLUTION TO NAGORNO-KARABAKH ISSUE, SAYS ENVOY
The Jakarta Post
April 9, 2008 Wednesday
Indonesia
THE JAKARTA POST — WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9, 2008 — PAGE 10 Azerbaijan,
the oil-rich South Caucasus nation, wants tosettle the Nagorno-Karabakh
issue through peaceful negotiations, despite its growing military
and economic might,Azerbaijani Ambassador to Indonesia said
"We want to solve this problem through negotiations based on the norms
and principles of international law.Though we are much stronger than
Armenia militarily and economically, we will not resort to violent
means,"Ambassador Ibrahim A. Hajiyev told The Jakarta Post at a book
presentation Tuesday in Jakarta
Thanks to its oil boom, Azerbaijan was able to allocate some $1US.2
billion to its defense sector in its 2008 statebudget — an increase
of $100 million over 2007’s $1.1 billion. The military budget is
higher than Armenia’sentire budget, which stood at just below $1
billion in 2007
Azerbaijan’s GDP grew by 25 percent in 2007 due to mainly soaring
oil prices
Hajiyey was presenting a book, War Against Azerbaijan: Targeting
Cultural Heritage, to Indonesian Foreign Ministryofficials and
journalists at Le Meridien Hotel, Jakarta
The book, which was authored by an expert team from Azerbaijan’s
foreign affairs ministry and Heydar AliyevFoundation, is one of the
series about Nagorno-Karabakh published by the Azerbaijan government
recently
During the presentation, there was also the screening of a documentary
film about the historical heritage of Karabakhand the systematic
destruction of historical, cultural and architectural monuments in
Nagorno-Karabakh by Armenia
The 280-page book, rich in documents, maps and photographs, includes
an illustration booklet, a multimedia disk and adocumentary film on DVD
The present conflict between the Muslim-majority Azerbaijan and its
neighbor Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh began in1988
Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azerbaijan territory, is presently occupied by
Armenian troops
In 1992, Armenia launched attacks on Azerbaijan and occupied some
20 percent of its territory, includingNagorno-Karabakh and seven
neighboring districts
"In 1994, we and Armenia signed a cease-fire agreement which ended
the war," Hajiyev said
Presently, the co-chairs of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group (comprisingrepresentatives
from Russia, France and the United States) are mediating between the
two warring countries
The OSCE Minsk Group was established in 1992 to work for a peaceful,
negotiated settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakhconflict between the
former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia
As part of its efforts to regain its territory from Armenia,
Azerbaijan tabled a draft resolution titled "TheSituation in the
Occupied Territories of Azerbaijan" at the UN General Assembly
The Resolution (No. A/62/L.42) was adopted on March 14, 2008, by
the 62nd UN General Assembly with 39 in favor toseven against, with
100 abstentions
Indonesia, a member of the Organization of the Islamic Conference
like Azerbaijan, was one of the countries thatsupported the resolution
"We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Indonesia and
its people for the valuable support for thisresolution at the UN,"
Hajiyev said.