AZERBAIJAN SURPRISED AT ACCUSATION OF AGGRAVATING REGIONAL SITUATION

news.az, Azerbaijan
Jan 15 2010

Collective Security Treaty Organization Azerbaijan’s embassy in Moscow
has expressed surprise at criticism from the Collective Security
Treaty Organization of remarks by its ambassador.

"The reaction of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)
to the statement by the Azerbaijani ambassador to Russia, Polad
Bulbuloglu, is surprising," the Azerbaijani embassy in Moscow said
in a statement.

Ambassador Bulbuloglu said on 29 December that "it’s time to
liberate the occupied lands of Azerbaijan. If Azerbaijan launches
war, no one will have the right to interfere, since Azerbaijan will
be fighting in its own territory for the liberation of its lands on
the basis of UN resolutions." In response the CSTO said, "Such an
approach leads to an aggravation of the regional situation, and runs
counter to the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group in the context of the
Armenia-Azerbaijan presidential negotiations."

The Azerbaijani embassy’s statement said: "It is surprising that
the CSTO Secretariat, the main duty of which according to its
own statute is to coordinate military construction in order to
defend member countries, should comment on the statement by the
ambassador of Azerbaijan, which is not a CSTO member and has never
encroached on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of its member
states.The ambassador’s remarks contained a call, not for war, which
was a distortion by the Secretariat, but for the liberation of the
territory of the Azerbaijan Republic, occupied as the result of a war
of aggression, which has been recognized internationally, including
by the CSTO members with the exception of the Republic of Armenia."

The embassy stressed once again Azerbaijan’s commitment to a solution
to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through the work of the OSCE Minsk
Group and based on international law and within the territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan. The embassy said that this is in line with
the CSTO’s support for cooperation with non-member countries and
intergovernmental security organizations. "The organization assists
the forming of fair and democratic order based on the principles of
international law," the embassy said.

The embassy said Azerbaijan had built reliable partnership relations
with many countries, including some CSTO members.

Taking into consideration the key circumstances, the embassy considers
the CSTO Secretariat’s press release as highly inappropriate,
the statement said. The press release exceeds the authority of the
Secretariat and constitutes an attempt to interfere in Azerbaijan’s
internal affairs.

The embassy hopes that the CSTO Secretariat will in future take a
more responsible attitude to such statements.

The Collective Security Treaty Organization was established in 1992
by Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

APA