Statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov at the Informal Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the OSCE participating States

Statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov at the Informal Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the OSCE participating States

Potsdam, September 1, 2016

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Colleagues,

Security in the OSCE area is undermined by unresolved armed conflicts, continued military aggressions, growing pressure of terrorism, violent extremism, separatism, cyber-attacks, radicalization and others. Intolerance and discrimination, especially on the ground of ethnicity and religion, such as Islamophobia is also serious challenge. Most of today’s international security problems have been caused by deliberate violation and misinterpretation of international law.

It is sometimes thought that for achieving short-term political goals, norms and principles of international law can be disregarded. Some even actively violate them by use of force against the territorial integrity of states. I have bitterly to admit that first in the OSCE this was started by neighbouring Armenia against my country. In full violation of international law and respective UN SC resolutions, Armenia through the more than 2 decades occupies territories of Azerbaijan and conducted notorious ethnic cleansing on these seized lands.

Armenian Foreign Minister here talked very controversially. Everyone here recognizes and knows well about Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: Who is aggressor! Who has occupied Azerbaijan's land! Who uses the force against my country! Who violated international and humanitarian law! And when there are almost 1 million refugees and IDPs in Azerbaijan.

Enough is enough. It is exact time to reach a breakthrough on the negotiation table and start withdrawal of Armenian military forces from the occupied lands of Azerbaijan.

Respect to the internationally recognized borders is a must for the world order and the international community. In this context, the inadmissibility of attempts of altering the internationally recognized borders of states by use of forces must be fully provided.

In order to avoid and prevent negative developments, we must ensure strong adherence to the norms of international law, including guiding principles of the Helsinki Final Act, and other OSCE documents and decisions.

Thank you.