Trend, Azerbaijan
Oct 23 2009

Azerbaijan raises issue of illegal armament of Armenians in
Nagorno-Karabakh in UN

USA, Washington, October 23 / Trend News N. Bogdanova /

This issue of illegal armament of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh was
discussed today during the debate at the 17th meeting of the Committee
of UN General Assembly about the peace, security and disarmament.

Azerbaijan has raised the issue of illegal armament of Armenians in
Nagorno-Karabakh at the Sixty-fourth UN General Assembly.

"Armenia had built up its military presence, with data showing a
growing number of uncontrolled arms, including 316tanks, 324 armoured
vehicles and 322 artillery systems in the occupied territories,
exceeding its maximum levels", deputy chairman of the committee, the
first secretary of Azerbaijani permanent office in UN, Ogtay
Ismayilzada, said.

"Armenia’s aggression had led to the occupation of one-fifth of
Azerbaijan’s territory, triggering the internal displacement of 1
million people, and of war crimes and genocide.Armenia had used the
occupied territories to hide great numbers of unaccounted and
uncontrolled treaty-limited equipment from the "CFE" community,
endangering the security of Azerbaijan and the stable development of
the whole region," he said.

Other representatives noticed that peace and security could only be
achieved with strong regional action and strict compliance with
existing arms agreements; otherwise the present arms races would erect
stumbling blocks along the road to stability around the world.

Ismayilzada regretted that unfortunately, unlawful use of force still
plagued certain States, and civilian populations were suffering around
the world, owing to the failure of individual States to fulfill their
most basic responsibilities.

"Armenia had blamed Azerbaijan for increasing its military budget and
for violations of arms limitation norms, but it had failed to mention
Azerbaijan’s defense spending, conformed to overall budget increases,"
he said.

"Azerbaijan spent 3.26 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on
the army, compared with Armenia’s 3.86 per cent. Despite being in a
state of war, Azerbaijan was continuing to fulfill commitments under
the CFE Treaty, reducing and destroying more than 150 treaty-limited
armaments and equipment over the last five years, in line with the
Tashkent Agreement. Azerbaijan aimed to liberate all occupied
territories, return internally displaced persons to their homes and
establish a durable peace and stability in the Nagorno-Karabakh
region," he said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan
lost all of Nagorno-Karabakh except for Shusha and Khojali in December
1991. In 1992-93, Armenian armed forces occupied Shusha, Khojali and 7
districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed
a ceasefire in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia,
France, and the U.S. – are currently holding the peace negotiations.