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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) |
Speech Mr. Murtuz Aleskerov, Chairman of Milli Mejlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan at the Conference of Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace (AAPP)Dear
Mr. Chairman! First of all, let me express my deep gratitude to the leadership of the People's Republic of China, who initiated and brought into effect this remarkable idea - the idea of today's grandiose forum. Without any exaggeration one can say that it is an important event in the history of our countries, our peoples and parliaments. Our Chinese friends have chosen a very successful time for holding of today's forum. In Azerbaijan, and not only in my country from the very ancient ages the spring time has been considered to be the symbol of the innovation and creation, unification and dialogue, reconciliation and settlement of frictions, peace and prosperity. I am pleased to emphasize that these everlasting values have been underlain our meeting and thus the idea of today's forum must and will certainly have due support and further development. The idea of all-Asian integration is not new. However it is to be admitted that the parliaments of our countries and the very huge potential inherent in the institution of parliamentarism have not been used sufficiently for giving effect to this exclusively important mission. We, parliamentarians, elected representatives of our peoples are able to contribute significantly to the process of unification and joint resolution of the problems our countries and peoples are facing. Asia is that region of the world where different political and economic systems, different ideologies and traditions, different nationalities and cultures co-exist. But these diversities and divergences cannot and must not threat the order and tranquility in our common house, if its foundation is based on the principles and values that have stood the test of centuries and today are unanimously recognized by all the countries of the world, including the region of Asia. First of all, these are the principles of non-use of force, territorial integrity, peaceful settlement of disputes, non-interference in internal affairs and faithful observation of international obligations. I believe that in the final document of this meeting we should not only express our adherence to these universally recognized principles, but also resolutely condemn the facts of their overt and gross violations. Today we as never before need a peace and stable Asia. This principle aim can be achieved only through effective cooperation and dialogue of all the states and peoples of the region. One of the most serious obstacles on this way is international terrorism. Terrorism leads to innumerable calamities, exposes more and more serious threat to peace, international law and order and human rights. Terrorist acts perpetrated on September 11 in the United States of America, which resulted in enormous victims among the civilians, are an overt example of it. The leadership of the Republic of Azerbaijan condemned resolutely these barbarian acts and expressed readiness to cooperate with all the states of the world involved in the anti-terrorist coalition. We all realize that the regional conflicts occurring in the Asian region impede seriously the international intercourse and cooperation. The main danger of such conflicts is the involvement in them of a great number of countries, creation of the situation undermining international peace and security. Furthermore, these conflicts hinder heavily the democratic development, preventing countries and peoples from the solution of creative tasks. Not less serious danger to peace and security in our region is exposed by aggressive nationalism and separatism. Separatism contradicts the genuine interests of the people of states as it leads to the dissolution of economic, social, cultural, family and other links existing for ages, and runs counter with the common integration tendencies of the world development. The separatists shelter their egregious crimes under the slogan of self-determination. Today attempts of using this principle with respect to any parts of a state, or particular minorities amount to an encroachment upon the right of peoples to determine their destiny within the framework of existing state borders and are actually used as a means of outside pressure on a sovereign state. Self-determination should not be carried out from the point of separatist positions to the prejudice of the territorial integrity and political unity of independent states. The issue of minorities must be settled in the context of observation of the fundamental democratic principles guaranteeing the protection of rights and freedoms of all citizens irrespective of their race, ethnicity, religion, language, which in its turn can be ensured in the framework of a state and in peaceful conditions. Attempts of particular states to directly "protect" the rights of national minorities, turn out to be a pretext for interference in internal affairs of sovereign states as it has been practiced by neighboring Armenia vis-a-vis Azerbaijan. Armenia tries to "substantiate" its aggression against my country and occupation of our territories by invoking the right of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh - the local Armenian minority to self-determination. It is nearly 15 years that Azerbaijan has been involved in an armed conflict against its will, the essence of which is territorial claims of Armenia to Azerbaijan. As a result of the military actions 20 per cent of the territory of Azerbaijan has been occupied by the armed forces of Armenia and about one million people have been driven out from their native lands. The defense of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan costs highly to our people. Certainly, here we deal with an egregious violation of international law, with an aggression against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state. I call on all the participants of the forum to facilitate the recognition in their parliaments of the fact of occupation of the Azerbaijani territories by Armenia and the policy of genocide Armenia has been carrying out against the Azerbaijani people over a century. Very recently my country has commemorated the national day of mourning - the day of genocide of the Azerbaijanis, in memory of fifty thousand civilian compatriots massacred by the Armenian nationalists within one day - 31 March 1918. A heinous act of genocide was perpetrated also at the end of the XX century: in the night from 25 to 26 February 1992 hundreds of civilian Azerbaijanis were brutally killed by the Armenian nationalists in the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly. Our country has been undertaking its utmost efforts for the peaceful settlement of the conflict. All the international legal documents adopted so far reaffirm the sovereignty, territorial integrity of my country and belonging of Nagorno-Karabakh to the Republic of Azerbaijan. As back as in 1993 four resolutions were adopted by the UN Security Council demanding the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of the armenian armed forces from all the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, the return of refugees and internally displaced persons to the places of their permanent residence. The principle of territorial integrity, which is one of the main achievements of the political experience of the peoples of the world, and which has been ensuring peace in different regions during decades, remains unshakable and must be considered as a key element underlying the world order. We, participants of the present forum, have to express resolute protest to all manifestations and forms of aggressive nationalism and separatism and to all attempts to support such unlawful actions. We all also need an economically prospering Asia. We, parliamentarians, need to promote the implementation of the idea of economic integration, which not only facilitates the creation of solid political and social-economic relations, but also settles a great deal of common problems, removes obstacles on the way to liberal economic activity, allows to use more effectively natural resources, transport facilities and intellectual potential of each country of the region and thus ultimately leads to improving the welfare of the people. The geopolitical position of my country situated on the crossroads of Europe and Asia predetermines our endeavor to establish a reliable system of stability and security in the region. The leit-motif of our foreign policy, which has been repeatedly stated by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Heydar Aliyev, is to establish balanced, friendly relationships with all the countries based upon universally recognized principles of international law. In conclusion I would like to underline once again that the vitally important interests of the Asian region, as well as all the mankind require the establishment of such a system of the international intercourse, in which not the military force, but the good neighboring and cooperation would be dominating, a broad exchange of the achievements of science and technology and cultural values would take place for the welfare of all peoples. There is no reasonable alternative to such a system. Thank you for your attention.
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