Azerbaijan

Mr. President, allow me first of all to congratulate you sincerely on your election to the presidency of the 4 fifty-fifth session of the General Assembly and to express my confidence that under your skilful leadership the Assembly will cope successfully with all the issues before it. I would also like to commend the President of the previous session, Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, on his remarkable contribution to the success of the fifty- fourth session as well as to the preparations for the Millennium Summit. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate a new Member of our Organization, Tuvalu, and to wish it a successful start in the work of the current session. Two weeks ago, we all witnessed a unique historic event: the Millennium Summit of the United Nations, in which about 150 Heads of State or Government took part. Remarkable ideas and proposals were voiced and a Summit Declaration was adopted. The time that we have to fulfil the commitments made by our leaders at the Millennium Summit has already begun to elapse. The twentieth century is coming to an end. Humankind will recall this century as an epoch of outstanding contrasts: scientific-technological and spiritual-intellectual progress, the bloodshed of two world wars, the collapse of empires, the emergence of new sovereign States, the cold war and collective efforts for the sake of peace and stability. What will the world be like in the approaching century? The end of the confrontation of two systems and the prevalence of ideas about democracy and the free market should contribute to the formation of a world in which the interests of all States are taken into account and a genuine and equal partnership is established. However, an analysis of the development of the international environment leads us to the bitter conclusion that stereotypes of rivalry are still alive. We are living through a very difficult period, when a single wrong step could destabilize the situation and, tragically, lead to a return to the past. We have a long way to go to build a just and secure world order. It can be achieved only by the joint efforts of all States, large and small, rich and poor, developed and developing. The year 2001 has been declared the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations. We are convinced that we should not let this opportunity slip by, and should use this dialogue to consider together the prospects for resolving the complex problems facing humankind. The year 2001 will also stand out because of another remarkable event: the special session of the General Assembly to review the outcome of the World Summit for Children, which will be held next September. I believe that I do not need to underline its significance. As a member of the Executive Board of the United Nations Children's Fund, my country is actively participating in the preparations for this important event. The fact that both of these events are being held at the juncture of two millenniums is highly symbolic and should contribute to the achievement of a qualitatively new level of interaction among States aimed at global progress. Globalization is the main feature of the current stage of the development of the world economy. It is a complex and objective process. Countries are concerned about the prospects of this phenomenon. While opening up new possibilities for developing economies, ensuring sustainable development and improving the welfare of peoples, globalization could also have tangible negative consequences for States with economies in transition and for developing countries. In this regard, I would like to underline that the United Nations must make fuller use of its capacities, as well as those of its specialized agencies, to assist States in anticipating and ensuring the early prevention of the possible negative consequences of globalization and the increasing interdependency of States. The United Nations is called upon to continue to play a key and effective role in strengthening international economic cooperation and advising States on all major issues of global development. Azerbaijan is making its own contribution to the development of the process of globalization. Located at the point where Europe and Asia meet, with a diversified economy and rich in natural resources, including hydrocarbons, my country serves as an effective link in the development of East-West and North-South cooperation. Azerbaijan is actively participating in projects for the development and transportation to international markets of the hydrocarbon resources of the Caspian Sea, as well as in the project to restore the Great Silk Road, all of which are of global importance. 5 Azerbaijan, together with a number of the Great Silk Road countries, is currently working on a new landmark project, SILKSAT, to provide the countries of the Great Silk Road with a global satellite telecommunications system, in addition to existing communication lines. These projects are crucial to enhancing trade and industrial ties among the participating countries, developing their economies and making them interactive and strengthening their integration into the global world economy. However, external threats, internal problems, outside pressures and involvement in the struggle for spheres of influence are depriving these young and fragile democracies of the opportunity freely to carry out policies that would respond to the interests and expectations of their people, to strengthen and improve their statehood and to engage in peaceful development. Since their very inception, they have been forced to fight a difficult battle for independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. As the victims of aggression, seizure of their territory, “ethnic cleansing”, aggressive separatism and terrorism, these States rightly expect the United Nations to take the most effective action to create a just and secure world and to protect the principles of the United Nations Charter. Unfortunately, the southern Caucasus has become a region where all of these problems, threats and risks have their explicit manifestation. The main destabilizing factor of the situation in the southern Caucasus has been the aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan, which has brought incalculable tragedy to millions of people. As a result of the aggression, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of the territory of Azerbaijan, carried out “ethnic cleansing” and ousted 1 million Azerbaijanis from their homes. In this connection, the United Nations Security Council adopted four resolutions which unequivocally reconfirmed the sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of the borders of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and called for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from all of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. However, from 1993 to date, those Security Council resolutions have remained a dead letter. Since 1992, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has been engaged in brokering a settlement of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but its activities have not been successful. Bilateral discussions between the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia are continuing, but they, too, have failed to produce results. The two countries have observed a ceasefire for the last six years, but it is not a solution to the problem. We call on the United Nations to take all necessary measures to implement the Security Council resolutions. Peace and security in the region cannot be achieved without a settlement of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as other regional conflicts, and the removal of external pressure, including foreign military presence. Bringing political integrity and neutrality to the southern Caucasus would make possible the establishment of a normal relationship among the States of the region and ensure their harmonious integration into the world economic system. We would like to express our gratitude to the organizations of the United Nations system and to donor countries for their assistance to Azerbaijani refugees and displaced persons, who have been living in great distress for over eight years. Of critical importance to us is the continuation of and increase in the humanitarian assistance being provided to them until they can return to their homes. The United Nations is the key forum for coordinating inter-State relations. The need to make significant efforts to enhance the Organization's effectiveness is not in doubt. In recent years, under the leadership of the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, a serious evaluation of the resources and capacities of the United Nations, as well as of the Organization's activities in the post-cold-war decade, has been made. We had never before heard such self-criticism as that expressed in the reports on tragedies in Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Rwanda. In this general context, we commend and support the Secretary- General's efforts to reform the United Nations. The United Nations bears great responsibility for the fate of the world, and we place our hopes in it. Serious and rational reforms should increase the effectiveness of the Organization and, first and foremost, of the Security Council. Given the Council's special significance, the question of adopting reform decisions by two thirds of the Member States has been 6 affirmed by a consensus resolution of the General Assembly. Azerbaijan fully supports such an approach. We also believe that the representation of the States of Asia, Africa and Latin America in the Security Council should be in keeping with modern political realities. We have already expressed, and today we reconfirm, our support for the election of Germany and Japan as permanent members of the Security Council. At the same time, I would like to point out that one additional non-permanent seat should be allocated to the Group of Eastern European States because of the unprecedented doubling in the membership of the Group. Otherwise, each country of the Eastern European Group could only be elected a non-permanent member of the Council once every 38 years. We have studied with great interest the Brahimi report on strengthening United Nations peacekeeping capacities. We would not like the ideas and recommendations contained in that remarkable report to remain a dead letter. We also hope that the International Criminal Court will become an effective organ to bring to justice, on behalf of the international community, those who have committed war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression. Should the Court become hostage to the interests of various groups of States and to the practice of double standards rather than being guided by international legal norms equal for all, perpetrators will go unpunished. Azerbaijan is interested in taking an active part in combating international terrorism, organized crime and illegal drug trafficking. The fight against those problems, which are growing in scale, can be effective only with the concerted efforts of all countries at both the regional and the global levels. In this connection, I would like to draw attention to a proposal made by the group of States that includes Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Moldova (GUUAM) on the establishment of an international anti-terrorism centre. Speaking of GUUAM in a wider context, I would like to stress that the meeting of the GUUAM heads of State during the Millennium Summit could be characterized as a landmark in the history of the group. The New York memorandum adopted at the meeting confirms the orientation of the GUUAM States towards further developing mutually beneficial and multifaceted cooperation in various spheres. There is yet another urgent issue whose resolution cannot be postponed. I am speaking of the difficult financial situation of our Organization that has arisen as a result of delays by Member States in making their contributions to the regular and peacekeeping budgets. Member States should fulfil their financial obligations to the Organization in full, on time and without any conditions. At the same time, our delegation believes that the time has come to reconsider the current scale of assessments for both the regular and the peacekeeping budgets. We are ready to cooperate constructively with other delegations on this matter. We believe that the principle of a State's capacity to pay should be the basis for the future reform of the scale of assessments. Our Organization is designed to play a leading role in overcoming obstacles to global peace and progress. I would like to underscore our collective responsibility for peace and security on our planet, and to express my confidence that the results of the Millennium Summit and the entire fifty-fifth session of the General Assembly will become a reliable basis for achieving a more stable and peaceful twenty-first century.