Armenian National Committee of America
1711 N Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel. (202) 775-1918
Fax. (202) 775-5648
[email protected]
Internet
PRESS RELEASE
March 17, 2008
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918
ANCA WELCOMES U.S. VOTE AGAINST BIASED AZERBAIJANI U.N. RESOLUTION
— Three OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Oppose Measure
WASHINGTON, DC – The United States, which serves along with the
Russian Federation and France as Co-chairs of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group charged with
leading talks toward a Nagorno Karabagh settlement, voted last week
against the passage of a biased and destructive United Nations
General Assembly resolution offered by Azerbaijan, reported the
Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
"We welcome the vote of the United States against Azerbaijan’s
biased and destructive attempt to undermine the OSCE peace
process," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "Rather
than sincerely committing to the path of peace, Baku’s most recent
round of venue-shopping sadly is aimed at undercutting the ongoing
negotiations – as they have done through their escalating threats
of renewed war and their recent attacks on Nagorno Karabagh – and,
domestically, at distracting pre-presidential election public
attention away from the growing popular discontent with President
Aliyev’s increasingly corrupt and undemocratic government."
The non-binding U.N. resolution, introduced by Azerbaijan on
February 20th and taken up by the General Assembly on March 14th,
demanded the "immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of
all Armenian forces from all the occupied territories of the
Republic of Azerbaijan." Despite concerns expressed by the OSCE
Minsk Group Co-Chairs that the resolution could undermine the
ongoing peace process, Azerbaijan persisted in pushing the measure
to a vote, which it won with 39 in favor, 7 against, and 100
abstentions. Those voting against the resolution were: Angola,
Armenia, France, India, Russian Federation, United States, and
Vanuatu.
Following passage of the resolution, Armenian Foreign Minister
Vartan Oskanian characterized the Azerbaijani effort as
hypocritical: "On the one hand, in an effort to misinform member
states, the resolution included a paragraph that supports the OSCE
Minsk Process, while on the other hand, Azerbaijan blatantly
ignored the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs position. The co-chair
countries had made clear they would not support the resolution and
in fact voted against the resolution," noted the Minister.
In response to press inquiries, the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan’s
Public Affairs officer, Jonathan Henick, noted that, "The most
efficient structure to resolve the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is the
OSCE Minsk Group."
The U.N. resolution comes in the wake of several months of
increasingly vocal threats of renewed war by Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev, followed up by recent attacks by Azerbaijani forces
against defensive positions in the Mardakert Region of Nagorno
Karabagh. Congressional Armenian Caucus Cochairs Frank Pallone (D-
NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) joined last month with more than 50
of their House colleagues in condemning Baku’s war rhetoric, and,
following the Mardakert assaults, asserted that: "As the Co-Chairs
of the Armenian Caucus, we are deeply disturbed by the preventable
loss of life along the Line of Contact between Nagorno-Karabakh and
Azerbaijan that took place on March 4th… It is troubling that
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has acted on his history of
warmongering rhetoric."
To send a free ANCA WebFax to Members of Congress regarding
Armenian American concerns regarding Nagorno Karabagh, visit:
d=11070181&type=CO
To read the complete text of the Azerbaijani resolution, visit:
mbol=A/62/L.42&Lang=E
For U.N. press coverage of the resolution, visit:
693.doc.htm
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