I would first like to thank and wish every success to
Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, President of the
General Assembly at its sixty-sixth session, and to
thank Mr. Deiss of Switzerland for his leadership
during the sixty-fifth session. I would also like to take
this opportunity to once again congratulate Secretary-
General Ban Ki-moon on his appointment to a second
term in office.
I would like to acknowledge the importance of
the choice of theme for this general debate, and to
highlight the role of mediation in the settlement of
disputes by peaceful means and as a way of preventing
the resumption of hostilities.
We greatly appreciate the mediation efforts of
global and regional entities and organizations in
various parts of the world to preserve peace and
security and to settle conflicts through peaceful
negotiations. Particularly worth mentioning is the
engagement of regional organizations, which have
gained a great deal of experience in mediation and
have in-depth knowledge of political, cultural and
military realities on the ground. The success of
mediation hinges, among other things, on the
articulation of a clearly defined mandate. A case in
point for us has been the role of the Minsk Group of
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE) in settling the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict.
Another key factor worth highlighting here is the
role of mediators in preventing the escalation of
conflict and a resumption of hostilities. This aspect of
mediation is sometimes overlooked, yet it is of no less
importance to international peace and stability than is
finding a solution to a contentious matter.
Three years ago, when I had the honour to speak
from this rostrum (see A/63/PV.9), I said that the time
had come for serious consideration of people’s right to
self-determination in the twenty-first century. Today,
we are witnessing new instances of people exercising
this inalienable right. In that context, I would like to
congratulate the newly elected 193rd Member of the
United Nations, the Republic of South Sudan. Its road
to a seat in this Hall has been long and difficult, but the
people of South Sudan, through the free expression of
their will, have exercised their right to live as a
sovereign, independent nation, thus pursuing the path
that many of the Member States represented here today
have taken.
The people of Nagorno Karabakh made the same
choice two decades ago by exercising their right to
23 11-51185
self-determination, withstanding the war unleashed by
Azerbaijan, and surviving bloodshed to earn their right
to live in freedom. The Nagorno Karabakh conflict
settlement talks are continuing with the mediation of
the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. We are grateful to
the co-chair countries and their leaders for their
mediation efforts. However, it is the negotiating
parties, not the mediators, who have to reach an
agreement. Azerbaijan’s utter unwillingness to reach an
agreement and its everything-or-war position have
stalled progress in the peace talks. Despite the
expectations and high-level advice of the international
community, Azerbaijan took yet another step backward
during the last meeting in Kazan by rejecting the
previously formulated arrangement and in fact trying to
make the negotiation process break down.
Baku has turned Armenophobia into State
propaganda at a level that is way beyond dangerous.
That is not just our view; the alarm has also been
sounded by international entities specializing in
combating racism and intolerance. Even more
dangerously, Armenophobic ideas are spreading among
the young Azeri generation, imperilling the future of
peaceful coexistence. By denying and destroying all
things Armenian, Baku stubbornly continues to
disseminate false accusations against Armenia,
Nagorno Karabakh and Armenians at all levels
everywhere, including here, within the framework of
the United Nations. Azerbaijan’s propaganda machine
continues to regularly bombard the international
community and its domestic audience with horrendous
lies about so-called Armenian brutality and the killing
of children. These stories are fabricated and
disseminated based on their authors’ shallow yet
painful logic, which posits that there are some people
out there who will rise to the bait of this evil
propaganda against Armenia and that it will thus serve
a purpose.
In recent years, owing to the efforts of the Minsk
Group co-chair countries, particularly direct mediation
on the part of the President of the Russian Federation,
a number of documents have been signed, including the
Meindorf, Astrakhan and Sochi declarations, which
have stressed the need to strengthen confidence-
building measures between the parties. The signature
of the President of Azerbaijan is also on those
documents. Azerbaijan, however, continues to turn
down repeated proposals from the international
community concerning agreement on the non-use of
force and the strengthening of confidence-building
measures.
Moreover, Azerbaijan’s belligerent rhetoric and
threats of war have intensified, and ceasefire violations
that continue to deprive innocent civilians of their lives
have grown more frequent. All of this is orchestrated at
the highest State level. The dangerous rise in
manifestations of Armenophobia not only does not
contribute to an atmosphere of trust in the region, but
also leads to questions about Azerbaijan’s
understanding of the United Nations goals of tolerance
and good-neighbourly coexistence. With such
aspirations, it is impermissible and even dangerous to
aspire to membership in the Security Council.
Yesterday, in the framework of the Assembly,
alongside debates on some of the most vital and urgent
issues of our time, a High-level meeting was convened
yesterday on the tenth anniversary of the Durban
Declaration, which reiterated the urgent need to
eliminate racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and
all forms of intolerance. Unfortunately, these
phenomena are familiar to us Armenians not only from
the examples I mentioned earlier and not only from this
century. As a nation that has survived genocide, the
most extreme form of racism and xenophobia, we are
morally obliged to act to prevent future genocides.
The elimination of racism and xenophobia and
the inculcation of tolerance can be truly effective if
accompanied by a clear prescription of liability.
Impunity and the avoidance of accountability give birth
to yet new crimes. Hence, it is incumbent upon the
international community to identify and denounce
without delay any expression of intolerance, especially
in its extreme forms.
The genocide of the Armenians perpetrated under
the Ottoman Empire has been recognized and
condemned by numerous countries, parliaments,
international organizations and the community of
genocide scholars. Unfortunately, the same does not
hold true for the Republic of Turkey, which continues
to engage in a policy of denying this atrocious crime
against humanity.
We unequivocally welcome the clear position
adopted by the international community in precluding
any possibility of immunity or pardon for the
perpetrators of genocide and other crimes against
humanity. Without recognition and condemnation, it
will be impossible to develop and implement effective
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mechanisms of prevention, which is a United Nations
priority. Armenia will contribute its utmost to the
recognition, punishment and prevention of genocide.
These references to the Armenian genocide lead
me to recall another important celebration marked this
year: the 150th birthday of Fridtjof Nansen, the first
High Commissioner for Refugees. In the most difficult
period for my nation, that great humanist rendered
priceless support to the survival of the homeland-
deprived fragments of the Armenian people who had
fled the genocide. Holders of Nansen passports settled
in various countries of the world. They rose to their
feet and partook in the development of the countries
and peoples that offered them refuge. I believe that
justice and equal rights between States have become
standards in international relations thanks to such
powerful individuals, who promoted their vision of
morality in the cruel world of realpolitik.
Speaking from this rostrum in 2008, I expressed
the hope that the Armenia-Turkey normalization
process initiated by us, the establishment of diplomatic
relations and the opening of the borders closed by
Turkey, in violation of international law, would become
the first steps towards the launch of a dialogue to
overcome the climate of mistrust, suspicion and
uncertainty between us. Although our initiative was
commended and widely supported by the international
community, Turkey has in all ways possible aborted the
ratification and implementation of the protocols we
signed in 2009.
Today, on the eve of the Rio United Nations
Conference on Sustainable Development, political will
must be exerted to honour the international
commitments to convert the South Caucasus into a
region of cooperation and prosperity.
The correlation between security and
development is not an abstract theory for our region,
where economic cooperation and deeper integration
with the global economy are hampered by unlawful
blockades and the obstruction of regional integration
projects. Those attitudes, alongside the fuelling of an
arms race, not only pose a danger to the peoples of the
region, but also continue to drain the resources direly
needed for sustainable development.
The time has come for the leaders of the countries
of our region to stand above the dictates of narrow
political agendas and to move towards solutions aimed
at a peaceful and prosperous future for generations to
come. I want to believe that, in the not-too-distant
future, our region will be perceived as a solid and firm
bridge uniting civilizations, rather than as a dividing
line.
Two days ago, the Republic of Armenia
celebrated the twentieth anniversary of its
independence. In September 1991, Armenia restored its
independence, realizing the dream of the Armenian
people and reuniting with the family of nations. In the
realm of history, 20 years may seem like a short time,
but for the current generation it has served as a time of
great change, with the building of independent
statehood and a renewed perception of its role and
place in the world. I take this opportunity to express
my gratitude to all the States, peoples and individuals
that have supported us in these 20 years of
development and State-building.
Freedom, peace and democracy are our choice,
and we are committed to this path. We are proud of our
achievements today. In two decades, the Republic of
Armenia has implemented a wide-scale programme of
State-building. Much has been done in the fields of
democratization, the protection of human rights,
economic reform, and the establishment of the rule of
law and a liberal economy. We have achieved much,
but much remains to be done. Above all, we are
convinced that we are on the right path — a path that is
irreversible.
Exactly a decade ago, New York, the city that is
home to the United Nations, experienced one of the
worst atrocities in the history of humankind — the 9/11
terrorist attacks. Armenia unconditionally supports and
actively contributes to the international community’s
counter-terrorism efforts and all the initiatives of the
United Nations in this area. We are doing and will
continue to do our best to make the world a safer and
more peaceful place.
We stand ready, to the best of our abilities, to
contribute to global security and respond to global
threats, be it through peacekeeping missions, the
elimination of the consequences of natural disasters,
environmental protection or the fight against terrorism,
racism and intolerance. Over the years, we have proven
our aspirations and determination with deeds, and we
stand ready to continue doing the same.