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Statement by the Milli Mejlis (Parliament) of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the 13th anniversary of the occupation of the city Shusha of the Republic of Azerbaijan by the armed forces of Armenia.(Baku, 6 May, 2005) Statement of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Statement of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the
Republic of Azerbaijan (Baku, 7 August, 2002) Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of
Azerbaijan, Press-release (Baku, 15 July, 2002) Speech
by Mr. Murtuz Aleskerov, Chairman of Milli Mejlis of the Republic of
Azerbaijan at the Conference of Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace
(AAPP) (Chongqing, 18 April, 2002) Appeal of the President of the Republic of
Azerbaijan dedicated to the Day of Solidarity of the World Azerbaijanis
(Baku, 22 December 2001) |
STATEMENT
BY THE MTLLI MEJLIS (PARLIAMENT) OF THE REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN ON THE 13th ANNIVERSARY OF THE OCCUPATION OF THE CITY OF SHUSHA OF THE REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN BY THE ARMED FORCES OF ARMENIA
This
year, on the 8" of May, 13 years pass since the city of Shusha was
occupied by the armed forces of Armenia. Occupation of Shusha was one phase
of the military aggression conducted with the aim to tear the region of
Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan and annex it to Armenia and drive the
indigenous Azerbaijani population out of their homes. With the occupation of
Shusha, which historically has always been the capital city of the entire
Karabakh region, the Armenian nationalists completed full ethnic cleansing of
this region of Azerbaijan. Shusha
was founded in 1756 on the ancient place of settlement of Azerbaijanis as the
capital of the independent Karabakh khanate by its ruler, outstanding state
figure Panahali Khan Javanshir. Since then, the city had played considerably
an important role in the social, political, economic and cultural life of
Azerbaijan, Shusha, being the cradle of the culture and art of Azerbaijan,
bestowed upon the world the prominent figures such as the great poet Mollah
Panah Vagif. Talented poetess Khurshudbanu Natavan, Abdurrahim bey
Hagverdiyev - founder of the Azerbaijani realism, Najaf bey Vazirov - one of
the founders of dramatic art in Azerbaijan, playwright and publicist, Uzeyir
HaJibayov - founder of the first opera in the East and the great composer,
Buibul - world famous opera singer, Afrasiyab Badalbayli - founder of the
Azerbaijani ballet and a number of other brilliant figures of our people. As a
result of aggression and ethnic cleansing policy, launched by Armenia since
1988 with the purpose of implementing its territorial claims against
Azerbaijan, 20% of the territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan, i.e. the
Nagorno-Karabakh region with the city of Shusha and 7 adjacent districts -
Lachin. Kalbajar, Aghdam, Jabrayil, Fuzuli, Qubadly, Zangilan have been
occupied, more than one million Azerbaijanis have been expelled from the
territory of Armenia and occupied territories of Azerbaijan, leaving more
than 18 thousand Azerbaijanis killed, over 20 thousand civilians injured,
over 50 thousand people disabled, over 4 thousand people taken prisoners and
missing, taken hostages, 877 towns, villages and settlements plundered,
destroyed and burnt. In the
course of aggression the Armenian nationalists committed terrible crimes of
genocide against the Azerbaijani population. During the occupation of the
Azerbaijani populated villages of Imarat Garvand. Tugh. Salakatin, Akhullu,
Khojavand, Jamilli, Nabitar, Meshali, Hasanabad, KarkiJahan, Gaybaly,
Malibayli, Yukhari and Ashaghi Gushchular, Garadaghly in Nagorno-Karabakh,
part of the people from these settlements were ruthlessly killed according to
the pie-designed plan. Only in the village of Garadaghiy over 80 civilian
Azerbaijanis, including children, women and old people were tortured and
killed mercilessly, tens of people were taken hostages, the village itself
was burned and razed to the ground. In the
night from 25"' to 26th of February of 1992 the military forces of the
Republic of Armenia and the Armenian terrorist groups in Nagorno-Karabakh,
with the support of the 366 motorized regiment of the former Soviet army, the
officers of which were mainly composed of the Armenian nationals, stormed the
Azerbaijani populated town of Khojaly, committed one of the horrible acts of
genocide in the history of mankind. Without any military necessity, Khojaly
was totally burned and destroyed. 613 civilian Azerbaijanis, including 63
children, 106 women were brutally killed, 487 people crippled heavily, 1275
inhabitants - elderly people, children and women were taken hostages and
subjected to unbelievable humiliations and sufferings. A number of families
were entirely annihilated. Even till now there is no information about the
fate of 150 people out of those taken hostages, including 68 women and 26
children. Civilians
trying to break through the siege and escape were ambushed and ruthlessly
killed by the .Armenian militants on the roads and in the forests. The
Armenian militants scalped persons the\ hnd killed, cut off their organs, put
out the eyes of infants, ripped the abdomens of pregnant women, buried or
burned people alive. The
nature and the scope of the bloody crimes committed in Khojaly and in the
other Azerbaijani populated settlements proves that these acts of genocide
fully fall under the definition formulated in the UN Convention "On the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide" adopted by the UN
General Assembly Resolution 260 (111) on December 9, 1948. These predesigned
massive and merciless acts of massacre were perpetrated with an intention to
totally annihilate the people living in that territory due to their
Azerbaijani origins. People trying to escape from the burned towns and
villages were not given any mercy; children and women, in particular pregnant
women, were brutally killed. Inhabitants of the other occupied towns and
villages of Azerbaijan could escape from the genocide only because they had
left their settlements Just a little before the attack of the Armenian military
forces. The
Armenian aggressors destroyed the cultural-historical heritage of Azerbaijan
in the occupied territories with special brutality. Committing acts of
vandalism in the territories they had occupied, they plundered and burned
nearly 500 historical and over 100 archeological monuments, 22 museums and 4
art galleries, 9 palaces of historical importance, desecrated 44 temples and
9 mosques. They destroyed and burned 927 libraries with 4.6 million books and
unique manuscript. It is
impossible to calculate and express with concrete figures the damage
inflicted by the Armenian aggressors on the national cultural places of
Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh and in the surrounding districts, because the
plundered and destroyed treasures are not only the unique cultural legacy of
Azerbaijan, but also of the world civilization. Despite
the fact that the major part of the territory of our country is under
occupation, one in eidit persons is a refugee and IDP, living in the tents
under unbearable conditions, Azerbaijan is willing to eliminate peacefully
the consequences of the aggression conducted by the Republic of Armenia. It
has been over 11 years now that a cease-fire regime was established in the
front line between Armenia and Azerbaijan. As it
is known, with a view to settle the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh international efforts began with the establishment of the
OSCE Minsk Group and determination of the mandate for the future peace
conference. The UN Security Council Resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884
regarding the occupation of the Azerbaijani territories, adopted in 1993,
unequivocally reaffirmed the sovereignty, territorial integrity and
inviolability of borders of the Republic of Azerbaijan and demanded complete,
immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the
occupied territories of Azerbaijan, These resolutions constitute the integral
part of legal framework for the conflict settlement. Mechanism
of the conflict settlement was established in 1994 as the OSCE Minsk Group
Co-Chairs. At present, the permanent members of the UN Security Council - the
USA, France and the Russian Federation are the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. Adoption
of the principles on the conflict settlement - territorial integrity of the
Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, legal status of
Nagorno-Karabakh defined in an agreement based on self-determination which
will confer on Nagorno-Karabakh the highest degree of self-government within
Azerbaijan, guaranteed security for Nagorno-Karabakh and its whole
population, including mutual obligations to ensure compliance by all the
parties with the provisions of the settlement - at the 1996 OSCE Lisbon
Summit by all the OSCE member states, except Armenia, was an important step
forward to the just settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh. The
OSCE Istanbul Summit of 1999 demonstrated the desire of the European states
to enter the third millennium in peace and security, their willingness to
protect the territorial integrity and independence of the countries, to
protect human rights and to extend democracy. On the
25th of January 2005 during the winter session the Parliamentary Assembly of
the Council of Europe (PACE) heard the report on the Armenia-Azerbaijan
conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh and adopted resolution reflecting the position
of the PACE regarding the conflict and a recommendation addressed to the
Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe concerning the measures that
the organization should carry out towards the conflict settlement. These
documents enshrine the facts of occupation of the territories of Azerbaijan
by the armed forces of Armenia, the control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region by
the separatist forces and the perpetration of ethnic cleansing in the
occupied territories. On the other hand, they stated the occupation of
foreign territories by a member state of the Council of Europe being in grave
violation of the commitments and obligations assumed by that state before the
Council of Europe. Furthermore, it condemned the attempt of occupation by use
offeree, referred to the UN Security Council resolutions demanding
tiber;ition of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, underlined the
necessity of withdrawal of the armed forces from all the occupied
territories, reaffirmed the right of displaced persons to return to their
homes in safety and with dignity. In
order to eliminate the damage inflicted by the aggression of Armenia against
our country and develop its independent state the Azerbaijani people needs
peace. Settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict on the basis of the UN
Charter, OSCE principles and international law, withdrawal of the occupying
forces from our territories, restoration of our state sovereignty throughout
the entire territory of Azerbaijan, return of the refugees and IDPs to their
homes would make it possible to establish lasting peace between Armenia and
Azerbaijan, to restore the normal neighborly relations between our peoples.
This conflict, which continues more than 15 years, obviously hampers the
democratic development process in the region and negatively affects not ^only
Azerbaijan and Armenia, but also the entire South Caucasus region. The
position of our country regarding the conflict settlement is just and is
based upon the universally recognized norms and principles of international
law. Unfortunately,
the implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions regarding the
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, the relevant decisions of the OSCE and other
international organizations have not been ensured so far, the activity of the
OSCE Minsk Group has not justified the hopes put on it. There is no need to
explain that to what extent it is dangerous to keep the situation unchanged. The
unconstructive position of Armenia in the peace talks, its refusal to
recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, stationing foreign
military bases in its territory, supplying its army with the modern
destructive weapons, frequently breaking the cease-fire regime increase the
danger of restoration of military operations. During
the years of peace talks mediated by the international institutions the
behavior and statements by the leadership of Armenia have led the peace
process at difficult situation. Recently, as a result of the monitoring
conducted by the OSCE fact finding mission in the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan it was found out that more than 15 thousand Armenians had been
illegally settled in these territories. At the
same time, attempts are being made to legitimize the separatist-terrorist
regime established in the occupied territories, from time to time
"elections" are held to the "power bodies" of the puppet
regime. Impudence of the aggressor has gone so far that it has established a
post-railed "president of the Nagorno-Karabakh republic" and tries
to legitimize it. Illegal
operations are being carried out in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and other
occupied territories. Trafficking in arms and human beings, disposal of the
radioactive wastes, brutal plundering of the natural resources, training of
terrorist groups and illegal armed groups financed by the revenues from
cultivation, processing and transportation, as well as from the production of
narcotics, cause serious concern. Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding
districts now have become zones of operations for different international
terrorist organizations. It has
been for over I 5 years that Azerbaijan became the target of the Armenian
terrorism. From the beginning of the aggression by Armenia against our
country the Armenian terrorist organizations have committed 32 acts of terror
against Azerbaijan. The victims of the terror were civilians of the cities
and villages, transport communications, communication means, public
infrastructure. Numerous subversive acts were perpetrated in the roads,
railway and sea stations, airports, metro stations, buses and other public
transport vehicles. As a direct consequence of these acts o\er 2 thousand
Azerbaijani citizens were killed, ten thousands of people injured. Azerbaijan
and iis people suffered huge material and moral damage. In
order to justify their territorial claims to the neighboring states,
including the Republic of Azerbaijan and to camouflage the policy of
occupation, genocide and state terrorism the Armenian nationalists, by using
all means, try to make the international community accept their fabrications
as if in 1915 they were subjected to genocide and they are "offended,
oppressed and humiliated people". Unfortunately, the parliaments and
governments of several states that shut their eyes to the real genocide like
the tragedy of Khojaly, and sometimes in a number of cases the international
organizations being affected by the influence of the deceitful Armenian
propaganda, or basing upon the current political circumstances, have made the
myth about "Armenian genocide" into the topic of debate, even
adopted baseless and unjust documents in this regard. The
researchers committed to the scientific truth, including the western
scholars, provide-d long time ago that there had never been any
"Armenian genocide" in the history. Fabrication about the
"Armenian genocide" is a product of morbid imagination and based on
the forged documents. Recently, providing an access by Turkey to the Ottoman
archives, inviting the researchers, including the Armenian scholars, to come
and get to know with the historical documents dating back to the beginning of
the XX century and however, refusal by the Armenian scholars from the
scientific discussion reveal true worth of those who disseminate the myth
about "Armenian genocide". In
reality, since the end of the XIX century using the covert and open
protection of the tsarist Russia and other states the Armenian nationalists
cherished an illusion of creating "great Armenia", perpetrated acts
of genocide and terror at different times in the Eastern Anatolia and South
Caucasus with an intention to cleanse the territories they wanted to occupy,
brutally killed about 2 million innocent people. In 1905-1907, further in
1918-1920 in Iravan, Daralayaz and Zangazur (nowadays in the territory of
modern Republic of Armenia), Tiflis. Nakhchivan, Baky, Ganja, Karabakh,
Shamakhy, Guba, Mughan, Lenkaran and other places of Azerbaijan the civilian
Azerbaijani people were subjected to genocide. During the genocide
perpetrated in March of 19 is over 30 thousand civilians were killed in Baky
- the capital city of Azerbaijan. Thus, millions of innocent people fell a
victim to the brutality of the Armenian nationalists. At present, March 3 1
is marked in our country as a day of genocide of the Azerbaijanis. After
the establishment of the Soviet power in Armenia and Azerbaijan a big portion
of the Azerbaijani territories was annexed to Armenia with the help of the
Bolshevik regime, hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis remaining in the
territory of Armenia were granted no autonomy, whereas the Armenians in
Azerbaijan enjoyed autonomy within the Nagorno-Kanibakh Autonomous Region
(NKAR), And so, the Armenian nationalists created a basis for the liilure
territorial claims against Azerbaijan, which resulted in further tragedies
that took place at the end of the XX century and still continues in the South
Caucasus. During
the period of more than the last 100 years a number of generations of the
Armenian people have been brought up in the spirit of animosity and hatred
against the Turkish and Azerbaijani peoples. Efforts of the Armenian
«scholars» have resulted in the falsification of the history of the region.
History of the Armenians has been artificially changed, exaggerated and
presenied as ancient one; intensive campaign of moral aggression has been
conducted against the Azerbaijanis. Taking an advantage of the conditions at
the end of the 80s of the last century the Armenian nationalists first
completed the forcible deportation of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis
who were the primordial inhabitants of the territory of the Republic of
Armenia, and then launched an open military aggression against Azerbaijan in
order to carry out their terhiorial claims against our country. Thus. The
policy of occupation and genocide fueled by the ideology of hatred has
consequently led to the present situation. Using
the atmosphere of impunity, support of the foreign forces that are not
interested in the establishment and maintenance of peace and stability in the
region the leadership of the Republic of Armenia does not hide its real
intentions at all. Beginning from 1989 the parliament of Armenia adopted a
number of unlawful acts on the "unification" of Armenia and
Nagorno-Karabakh, The action plans of the Armenian government include
militaristic provisions regarding Nagorno-Karabakh, while the leaders of
Armenia make irresponsible statements saying that Nagorno-Karabdkh will never
be a pan of Azerbaijan. One of
the factors that hamper the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem is
predominance of a fear of coercion in the Armenian society and existence of
intolerant atmosphere towards the dissent, as well as views regarding the
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, which differs from the official ones. In 1999,
on the eve of the OSCE Istanbul Summit an unforeseen and unbelievable event
took place in the parliament of Armenia, which has never occurred in the
history of the modern world and even in the countries with reactionary
regimes - a number of armed persons entered the session hail of the
parliament and shot some of high ranking officials of the parliament and the
government. Expressing
the sovereign will of the Azerbaijani people the Milli Mejiis of the Republic
of Azerbaijan declares once again that the Republic of Azerbaijan will never
agree with the seizure of sovereignty in a part of its territory, with the
outrageous occupation of its primordial lands and with their separation, and
will resort to all possible means in order to achieve the restoration of its
terrhonal integrity. Demanding
the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolutions 822, 853- 874 and
884 adopted in 1993 on complete, immediate and unconditional withdrawal from
all the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, the Milli Mejiis of the Republic
of Azerbaijan calls to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh problem on the basis of
the decisions and final documents of the OSCE Budapest, Lisbon and Istanbul
summits, recommendations and decisions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe. Reaffirming
the position of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the peaceful settlement of the
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh the Milli Mejiis of the
Republic of Azerbaijan demands from the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group to
exert an influence on the aggressor that has occupied the neighbor’s lands,
to proceed, while elaborating the ways of peaceful settlement of the
conflict, from the universally recognized norms and principles of international
law, in particular the most fundamental ones - the territorial integrity and
inviolability of borders of states. The
Parliament of Azerbaijan calls upon the Armenian side to hold constructive
position in the peace process, to refrain from the actions, which stalemate
the talks within the OSCE Minsk Group and complicate the restoration works to
be carried out in the region after the settlement. The
international community should not remain indifferent to the violation of the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan, it has
to call the aggressor by its proper name and render assistance in the
withdrawal by Armenia from the occupied Azerbaijani territories and return of
the refugees and IDPs to their homes. Considering it necessary and demanding
to discuss the issue of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict in the United Nations
General Assembly the Milli Mejiis of the Republic of Azerbaijan appeals to
the Inter-Parliamentary Union, OSCf7 Parliamentary Assembly, Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe, Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization of the
Black Sea Economic Cooperation, Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the
Commonwealth of the Independent States, Parliamentary Union of the
Organization of the Islamic Conference, the European Parliament and the NATO
Parliamentary Assembly, the other international organizations, parliaments
and governments of the world countries to support the just cause of
Azerbaijan, contribute to the peaceful solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
on the basis of universally recognized norms and principles of international
law and lo the restoration of the territorial integrity of our country. (Adopted
at the session of the Milli Mejiis (Parliament) of the Republic of Azerbaijan
on May 6 2005.) |
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