Karabakh issue in the context of UN resolutions

On March 14, the UN General Assembly approved the resolution "The situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan." The resolution expresses serious concern that "the armed conflict in and around the Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan continues to pose a threat to international peace and security."

The UN General Assembly calls on all states to respect and maintain the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan within its recognized borders. "The General Assembly reiterates that no state should recognize the situation that has arisen as a result of the occupation of the territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan as legal and should not contribute to or help to maintain this situation."

The resolution emphasizes the need for "an immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of all Armenian forces from all occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan," confirms the "inalienable right of the population expelled from the occupied territories to return to their homes", emphasizes "the need to create appropriate conditions for return, including rehabilitation affected territories. "

The adoption of this resolution, initiated by the Azerbaijani side contrary to the warnings of the co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group (USA, France, Russia), can be considered a diplomatic victory of official Baku and the beginning of a new (difficult to predict) phase in the settlement of the Karabakh problem. The text of the resolution with an appeal to support it was submitted to the General Assembly by the Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan to the UN Agshin Mehdiyev.

The US representative Alejandro Wolff, speaking on behalf of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries, said that they did not support this resolution because "it does not reflect all approaches to the settlement of the conflict proposed by the Minsk Group as a" balanced package "in 2007."

Representatives of Pakistan, Ukraine and Uganda made statements in support of the text of the resolution. Then the resolution was put to the vote and adopted by 39 votes in favor, with 7 against and 100 abstentions. Among the supporters of this resolution were many representatives of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, as well as Germany, Ukraine, Georgia, etc. Against the resolution, along with Armenia, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs - the United States, Russia, and France.

So, after 15 years of unsuccessful attempts to resolve the Karabakh problem by peaceful means within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group, Azerbaijan, in search of more effective levers of influence on the situation, was again forced to engage the UN rostrum.

For the first time, Azerbaijan turned to the UN in the spring of 1993, after a series of unsuccessful attempts to resolve the conflict within the framework of the CSCE and the occupation of the Kelbajar region by Armenians. At the end of April 1993, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 822 recognizing the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states in the region. The Resolution demanded "an immediate cessation of hostilities and an immediate withdrawal of occupying forces from the occupied regions of Azerbaijan, as well as urging interested parties to resume negotiations immediately in order to resolve conflict in the framework of the Minsk Group CSCE peace process."

Contrary to the expectations of Azerbaijan, the UN Security Council limited itself to the adoption of a resolution and again handed over the fate of the conflict to the CSCE Minsk Group, in which Russia set the clear tone. In connection with the subsequent failure of the trilateral initiative of Moscow, Washington and Ankara in the framework of the Minsk Group"s efforts to end hostilities and the continued occupation of other regions of Azerbaijan by Armenia, from July to November 1993, new UN Security Council resolutions were adopted (853, 874 and 884.)

The resolutions contained essentially the same requirements: an immediate cessation of hostilities, the liberation of all occupied territories and the resumption of the negotiation process within the Minsk Group. Only the demand for the resumption of the negotiation process within the framework of the unsuccessful peace mission of the Minsk Group was realised, which, although soon succeeded in freezing hostilities (the Bishkek Protocol in May 1994), did not resolve the main requirement of all UN Security Council resolutions over 15 years immediate release of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

It is worth noting that the four resolutions of 1993 were adopted unanimously and also by the same authorized body of the UN - the Security Council, but remained unfulfilled. Today, after 15 years, Azerbaijan again appeals to the UN in search of a way out of the impasse. But is the resolution of the UN General Assembly, initiated by Azerbaijan itself and adopted in the ratio of 39 "for", 100 "abstentions" and 7 "against" capable, including the "troika" of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs and permanent members of the Security Council, to give a real positive impetus to the conflict resolution process ?! Or did the adoption of this resolution pursue other goals?! ...

The revelations of Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov shed some light on the hidden motives of the extraordinary step of official Baku. "We believe that a very important document that has legal and political strength has been adopted and, as a resolution of the UN General Assembly, it should be considered as a fundamental basis for resolving the conflict," Azimov said.

Further, the most remarkable thing in his speech: the co-chairs "should not doubt that we will continue to work with them on the basis of a position supported at the level of the UN General Assembly." "The co-chairs should understand that they are not monopolists and there are other countries in the Minsk Group. For example, Turkey, which supported us or repeatedly supported the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, Germany." "The UN resolution should be a serious message to Armenia and a warning to the co-chairs." Azerbaijan will no longer act in the dark and requires clarity, which is to achieve territorial integrity. Azimov also pointed out the temporary implication of the action: the recognition by the UN General Assembly resolution of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan following the declaration of independence of Kosovo helps to remove the "precedent threat" for our country.

The latter, perhaps, is the main motivating goal of this action: to protect oneself as much as possible at the subsequent stages of the negotiation process from pressure from the "case-law threat". Azimov"s revelations also hint at another motivational version - a kind of official Baku"s demarche against the format of the co-chairing countries and against the allegedly balanced Madrid version of the Madrid resolution of the conflict imposed by the OSCE Minsk Group. If this is a demarche, then it is most likely preliminary agreed upon with some members of the Minsk Group (USA, Turkey, and Germany) and aimed, ultimately, at weakening Russia's role in the negotiation process. Any inconsistent demarche in the current conditions could have dangerous consequences for official Baku.