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Statement
by Mr. Vilayat Guliyev, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of
Azerbaijan at 110th Session of Committee of Ministers of the Council of
Europe (Vilnius, 3 May, 2002)
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Statement by Mr. Vilayat
Guliyev,
Minister of Foreign Affaires of the Republic of Azerbaijan, at 110th Session
of Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe,
Vilnius, May 3, 2002.
Dear
Mr. Chairman,
Dear Mr. Secretary General,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
First of all, let me express my gratitude to H.E. Mr. Antanas Valionis,
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, whose tenure in the capacity
of the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers is coming to an end, and
wish all kinds of success to the future Chairperson, H.E. Ms Lydie Polfer,
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg. I would like to express our
sincere gratitude to the Government of Lithuania for preparation and organization
of the current session here in Vilnius.
Distinguished Participants,
The tragic events of last year have clearly and unequivocally demonstrated
that terrorism recognized no borders. This devastating phenomenon contradicts
all norms of the humankind. How can we fight this evil successfully –
the very one which endangers both lives of a single person and people,
undermines security, territorial integrity, unity and sovereignty of states
and international community as a whole? Position of Azerbaijan in this
regard is a well-known one. We must decisively combat all those goals
would be or how skillfully those are camouflaged.
Terrorism is a practice aimed at imposing someone’s will through threats
and acts of violence. Terrorism is being widely used by those who come
out against the law and human values. They appose the law of power to
the power of law. They bid defiance to the international community in
order to achieve their goals and realize their policy. In the zones controlled
by terrorists such crimes as trafficking in human beings, weapons and
drugs, money laundering and other illegal economic activities flourish
and face no obstacles. Profits gained by this way they are turned to sustain
the endless cycle of violence and terror, and to undermine democratic
stability in our States.
It would definitely be impossible to make any tangible progress in our
fight until and unless we start uprooting the very causes of terrorism.
The key to successful eradication of terrorism is the solidarity of international
community against violations of international law, respect for borders
and sovereignty of States, disbandment of illegal armed groupings and
destruction of their weaponry arsenals, restoration of rule of law in
the zones of conflicts, return of all displaced population to their homes,
elimination of discrimination, assistance to the less developed countries.
Lack of timely and adequate reaction to the constant violations of international
law and practice of double standards, aggression and occupation, ethnic
cleansing and massive refugee crises, widening social inequality – all
mentioned – give birth to sharpened feeling of injustice and indignation,
which further grows into estrangement.
Dear Colleagues,
The international community is developing on the basis of common norms,
principles and values, which represent kind of Code for Responsible Conduct,
creating essential grounds for democratic stability and confidence between
States. This cohesion and solidarity of States are absolutely necessary
for successful achievement of common goals in fighting terrorism. As we
see, cooperation between States in some regions yields substantial results.
We can clearly watch that in the Baltic region, where the States do fully
and unconditionally respect each other’s sovereignty, territorial integrity
and inviolability of borders and unequivocally refrain from use of force
and terrorism. It is of a deep regret that such kind of regional cooperation
is impossible in the South Caucasus where, as you all are well aware of,
the Republic of Armenia has occupied 20 percent of territory of Azerbaijan
and turned more then one million of civilian Azerbaijanis into refugees
and internally displaced persons.
It is only having removed all consequences of Armenian aggression against
Azerbaijan that we would achieve the democratic stability and security
in the South Caucasus and Europe on the whole.
Dear Colleagues,
The Council of Europe can make a serious into struggle against terrorism
through particularly the improvement of international treaty base in this
field. The Council should also provide assistance in reforming and updating
the national legislation’s of Participating States, and improving methodology
and techniques of fighting terrorism, including those regarding the financing
of terrorism and strengthening border control. The Council of Europe has
to be more exacting in regard to the implementation of the norms and principles
of interstate relations by its Member States. Our Organization should
also be engaged in raising the public awareness on terrorism, its causes
and implications and public cultivation of the international law-based
settlement of conflicts, reforming the educational systems with a view
of promoting tolerance and eradicating racism, aggressive nationalism
and xenophobia.
Further on we suggest to appoint the CE Rapporteur on the situation on
the terrorism and establish a monitoring mechanism to observe the implementation
of commitments undertaken by the Member States with regard to combating
terrorism.
Bearing in mind contribution of the Council of Europe into the dialogue
among civilizations, cultures and religions, I would like to invite the
Secretary General and Participating States to support and actively participate
in the OSCE Conference on the Role of Religion in the Fight against Terrorism,
which will take place 10-11 October 2002 in Baku.
Thank you.
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