Exactly 40 years ago, in 1975, the world leaders came together to establish new principles of international relations in order to mitigate the risks of global confrontation and they signed a historic document named the Helsinki Final Act. This document was supposed to rebuild the architecture of European security and augment the opportunities of peaceful and sustainable cooperation between the states.
Although the world encountered a great deal of conflicts and confrontations as well as gross violations of the norms of international law in some cases in the years past, the Helsinki principles still maintain its relevance and importance. Because, there is no alternative to these norms and principles and changing them may be conducive to a number of serious implications and unforeseeable aftereffects. That is why, the 24th summer session the OSCE PA organized in Helsinki which also marked the 40th anniversary of Helsinki Final Act, was a portentous event for each state, in particular, for Azerbaijan who severely suffers from violation of these principles and whose territories are currently under invasion.
In this regard, the draft resolution “Adherence to the Helsinki Principles in inter-state relations across the OSCE area” developed by Azerbaijani MP Azay Guliyev in order to draw closer attention to grave crisis in disobedience to international law and also protect the national interests of Azerbaijan on the legal grounds is highly commendable. Wisely chosen tactics which incorporate heavily discussed Ukrainian crisis as well as Georgian and Moldovan conflicts in conjunction with Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno Karabakh conflict into the resolution Azerbaijan, correctly made legal expression and professional approach paved the way for a favourable condition for adopting the resolution.
Re-election of Azay Guliyev as the deputy chairman of the OSCE PA’s Committee on Political Affairs and Security and member of the bureau increased the chances of adoption of resolution as well. It is no coincidence that the Committee supported none of the 14 amendments to the resolution put forward by Russians and Armenians and the document was accepted in original form. On July 9, attempts by Armenian delegation to impede inclusion of resolution in Declaration of Helsinki and associated documents in every possible way experienced a fiasco in OSCE PA’s plenary session and the resolution in question was recognized as an official document.
For recent few days, discussions on this document have heavily been underway in the mass media. Yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan gave a comment on the resolution and highly acknowledged the importance of this diplomatic success. Instead, as regards the Armenia, the adoption if this resolution was assessed as a huge fiasco in aggressor country. It also indirectly proved the success of Azerbaijan’s diplomacy and political victory.
The following 10 points mentioned in the aforesaid resolution are especially significant for Azerbaijan:
• OSCE Parliamentary Assembly expresses deep concerns over the persistence of conflicts in various regions of the OSCE area, in particular in the territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine (Article 5)
• OSCE Parliamentary Assembly acknowledges that conflicts in the OSCE area undermine the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence of the participating states concerned, hinders the democratic reforms and sustainable development in these states, affects regional co-operation and development (Article 6)
• OSCE Parliamentary Assembly reaffirms that every state has the duty to refrain in its international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations (Article 10);
• OSCE Parliamentary Assembly also reaffirms the principles of inviolability of borders and territorial integrity of states, and recalls in that regard the established principle of international law on the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force (Article 11);
• OSCE PA reiterates the obligation of states not to recognize as lawful a situation resulting from the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of states, nor render aid or assistance in maintaining that, and to refrain from any action or dealing that might be interpreted as a recognition of it, whether direct or indirect (article 12);
• OSCE PA reaffirms the principles of equal rights of people and their right to self-determination shall not be construed as authorizing any action against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state (article 13);
• OSCE PA reaffirms the inalienable right of the populations of the Republic of Azerbaijan and other states displaced as a result of conflicts to return to their homes in safety and dignity, and stresses the necessity of creating appropriate conditions for their soonest return (article 14)
• OSCE PA emphasizes the responsibility of states to comply with their relevant obligations to end impunity and to thoroughly investigate and prosecute persons responsible for war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity or other serious violations of international humanitarian law, in order to prevent violations, avoid their recurrence and seek sustainable peace, justice, truth and reconciliation (article 15);
• OSCE PA stresses the importance of compliance by conflicting parties with and the implementation of the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions and the relevant documents of other international organizations (article 16)
• OSCE PA urges settlement of the conflicts, including those affecting the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, based on the norms and principles of international law, in particular those relating to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the states concerned (article 19).
At a time when the dual policy is dominant around the world, efforts are increased to cast a shadow on the achievements of Azerbaijan, and "great powers" increasingly seek to hold countries under their sphere of influence, there is no doubt that adoption of such an essential resolution is a huge achievement of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s wise and forward-looking foreign and domestic policy which act in our best national interests, and in particular, Azerbaijan’s offensive diplomacy which is fully justified. We are confident that as a result of successful cooperation between the National Parliament and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the adopted resolution will further strengthen Azerbaijan’s position in negotiations for putting a stop to Armenia’s aggressive policy and retrieving our occupied territories.
As Foreign Affairs Ministry declares, provisions included in this resolution should be considered as guiding principles by the co-chairs of OSCE Minsk Group who should abide by the Helsinki Final Act, and Armenian side must be demanded to observe them. If there are sanctions for conflict in Ukraine, then Armenia should also be subjected to similar harsh measures because of occupying Azerbaijani lands. This resolution serves as a favourable legal framework in this regard. All that remains is its execution.
Analytical team of “Dushunja” Public Union
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