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Azerbaijan stubbornly refuses to recognize the right of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to self-determination, acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, Edward Nalbandian said in a statement addressing the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly General Debate, information and public relations department of the Ministry informs.

“Mr. President,
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the International Covenants on Human Rights, as well as the 30th anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development. These major documents proclaim that “All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.” It is well known that the UN Charter underlines the respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples as a purpose of this organization.

Aggressive military response of the state to the peaceful aspiration of people to exercise their right to self-determination only legitimizes such aspiration and deprives the aggressor of any claim to authority over such people. The UN Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order rightly stated that rather than perceiving self-determination as a source of conflict, armed conflict should be seen as a consequence of the violation of the right to self-determination.

Azerbaijan stubbornly refuses to recognize the right of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to self-determination. As part of Azerbaijan’s policy of ethnic cleansing and aggression, starting from the late 80s and beginning of 90s Armenians were massacred and expelled from their homes. Nobel Peace Prize winner Andrei Sakharov called it a threat of a new genocide of the Armenian people.
This year again, in early April in blatant violation of the cease-fire agreement, Azerbaijan unleashed another large scale aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh, indiscriminately targeting civilian infrastructures and population. Among the victims were a 12 year old boy and 92 year old woman.

Three captive soldiers of the Nagorno-Karabakh armed forces were beheaded in DAESH style, which was subsequently demonstrated in towns and villages and publicized through social networks.

Furthermore, the leader of Azerbaijan publically decorated the perpetrators of this crime. During the exchange of bodies of the deceased between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan, carried out through the mediation of the International Committee of the Red Cross, it was registered that the corpses transferred from the Azerbaijani side had undeniable signs of torture and were mutilated. Such despicable atrocities go beyond elementary norms of the civilized world and constitute gross violations of international humanitarian law.

The April aggression severely undermined the peace process. To restore the trust in peaceful resolution of the conflict measures should be taken to prevent the use of force and to create conditions conducive to the advancement of the peace process. This was the main aim of two Summits on Nagorno-Karabakh held in Vienna in May and in St. Petersburg in June. First of all, it is imperative to implement what was particularly emphasized and agreed upon at these Summits - first, the full adherence to the 1994-1995 trilateral ceasefire agreements, which do not have time limitations; second, the creation of mechanism for investigation of ceasefire violations; third, the expansion of the capacity of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office.
Against all odds the people of Nagorno-Karabakh have been able to defend themselves and create a free and democratic society.

Armenia, together with the mediator countries - Russia, the United States and France – the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, will continue its efforts towards exclusively peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The Co-Chairs have proclaimed a rather civilized formula for the settlement – ballots instead of bullets. The proposal outlined by the presidents of the Co-Chair countries stipulates future determination of the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh through a legally binding expression of will of its population. The mentality that supports medieval barbarism, as witnessed in April, can hardly accept the civilized approaches of the modern world,” the statement reads.