News.Az interviews Gulamhuseyn Alibeyli, former member of the Azerbaijani delegation in PACE.
The Azerbaijani side has included the draft resolution on the situation in the occupied Azerbaijani lands to the agenda of the UN General Assembly. Is it realistic to include the Karabakh conflict into the UN agenda at the time when OSCE is dealing with this issue
As is known, the UN empowered the OSCE to engage in the Karabakh conflict which in turn has created the Minsk group for these purposes and instructed the structure to settle the conflict. In this connection, in fact, I think it is possible to return the Karabakh issue to the UN agenda because unlike the OSCE the UN can apply sanctions against the member-states of the organization in line with its mandate. Undoubtedly, it is necessary to welcome the discussion of the issue on the occupied lands of Azerbaijan in the UN.
Does the discussion of the Karabakh conflict in UN mean that Azerbaijan does not believe in OSCE’s ability to settle this problem?
I think this issue must be removed from the OSCE agenda because OSCE has been dealing with this issue since 1992 and has not achieved any result throughout these 18 years. In this connection, it would be fair to return the Karabakh conflict into the UN agenda.
Is there a hope that the Minsk Group co-chairs will adopt this document in the upcoming voting in UN on the draft resolution on the situation in the occupied lands of Azerbaijan?
This proves once again that the OSCE Minsk Group and especially the co-chairmanship institute in this group is not an effective mechanism for the resolution of the conflict. If the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs query the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, this means they cannot mediate. Meanwhile, such differences may be an advantage for the Azerbaijani diplomacy as an additional argument about OSCE’s passiveness.
Can the recognition of Karabakh independence by Armenia as a response to the adoption of the resolution in UN be negative for Azerbaijan?
Armenia has considered Karabakh to be its land since 1989. This issue has been fixed in the Armenian act on state independence. In terms of norms of international law and the UN charter, this is an act of occupation. Unfortunately, the world countries do not want to assess this act of occupation, they do not want to assess it as the separation of lands from another state. Therefore, Armenia’s actions about recognition of Karabakh’s “independence” do not play any role.
Can Turkey’s accession to UN from September 1 have a positive effect on the adoption of the resolution on Karabakh?
Experience of international organizations shows that the role of co-chairmanship or chairmanship in such organizations does not play an important role in decision-making. The so-called mechanism of international bureaucracy comes in effect in such issues. In addition, the positions of definite states play a special role in adopting such resolutions. In this connection, Turkish co-chairmanship in UN will not play any role in adopting resolutions on Karabakh.
What can the adoption of the resolution on Karabakh in UN bring to Azerbaijan?
In fact, the adoption of the resolution in UN may give additional advantages to Azerbaijan. IN fact, the norms of international law in the issue of Karabakh conflict are on Azerbaijan’s side. However, the adoption of the draft resolution on the Karabakh conflict in UN will give additional advantages and possibilities to Azerbaijan. This resolution may give both theoretical and legal advantages.
Is there a perspective of putting such resolutions into the agenda of the UN Security Council?
This issue can always be put into the agenda of the UN Security Council. In order to attain this goal Azerbaijan should seriously work with permanent members of the UN Security Council. Practice shows that legal norms and real norms differ from each others on the international arena. Such an attitude has repeatedly been demonstrated on Azerbaijan. Therefore, Azerbaijan should work closely with the UN Security Council members to further gain the discussion of the Karabakh conflict in this structure.
Lala B.
News.Az