By Sara Israfilbayova
The Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be among the topics to be discussed during the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
The draft resolutions "The situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan" and "Protracted conflicts in the GUAM area and their implications for international peace, security and development" are included in the provisional agenda of the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly.
The draft resolutions were included in the agenda, which consists of 171 paragraphs, under paragraphs 40 and 36 respectively, since they were not discussed during the 71st session of the UN General Assembly.
The official opening of the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly will be held on September 12 in New York. The traditional general debates will be held from September 19 to 25.
The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are planning to hold meetings with the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia during the opening session of the General Assembly in New York.
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.
While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign state with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.
Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.
Baku has repeatedly expressed its consent to come to the negotiating table with Yerevan to resolve the conflict by peaceful means, but Armenia continues to play for time and avoids substantive negotiations in order to preserve the inadmissible status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh.