UN support for substantive talks on the resolution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakhconflict is appreciated, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said during his meeting with UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Miroslav Jenča.
Speaking about the Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan, Mammadyarov noted that the UN’s supporting the substantive talks aimed at resolving the conflict is greatly appreciated.
The minister also outlined the role of the specialized UN institutions, especially the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in coping with the humanitarian catastrophe Azerbaijan has been facing as a consequence of the conflict and solving social problems of the refugees and IDPs.
Speaking about the negotiation process, Mammadyarov added that in accordance with the well-known resolutions of the UN Security Council which are the basis of the resolution of the conflict, the complete and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied Azerbaijani territories must be ensured.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict entered its modern phase when the Armenian SRR made territorial claims against the Azerbaijani SSR in 1988.
A fierce war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. As a result of the war, Armenian armed forces occupied some 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory which includes Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts (Lachin, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Gubadli and Zangilan), and over a million Azerbaijanis became refugees and internally displaced people.
The military operations finally came to an end when Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in Bishkek in 1994.
Dealing with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the OSCEMinsk Group, which was created after the meeting of the CSCE (OSCE after the Budapest summit held in December 1994) Ministerial Council in Helsinki on 24 March 1992. The Group’s members include Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belarus, Finland and Sweden.
Besides, the OSCE Minsk Group has a co-chairmanship institution, comprised of Russian, the US and French co-chairs, which began operating in 1996.
Resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 of the UN Security Council, which were passed in short intervals in 1993, and other resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly, PACE, OSCE, OIC, and other organizations require Armenia to unconditionally withdraw its troops from Nagorno-Karabakh.
