Baku, December 18, AZERTAC

Azerbaijan’s Milli Majlis issued the statement to the motion of the National Council of the Parliament of Switzerland.

The statement reads; “The Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan deplores the fact that a motion was seconded at a meeting of the National Council (the lower house of the Federal Assembly) of Switzerland on 17 December this year to convene an international peace forum about the inexistent ‘Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’ and that the Government of this country has accepted the proposal to organize such a conference in order to facilitate the repatriation of the Armenian residents who had left that region of Azerbaijan of their own accord.

The pro-Armenian members of the Swiss National Council are surely aware of the fact that Garabagh is an integral part of the Republic of Azerbaijan, as recognized by international law and established in several UN Security Council resolutions and documents of other international organizations. In the autumn of 2020, the outcomes of the 44-day Patriotic War irreversibly put an end to Armenia's 30-year occupation of this territory of our country, while in September of the previous year, Azerbaijan's national sovereignty over that region was restored in a one-day anti-terrorism operation. The armed aggression, which caused enormous damage to Azerbaijan is now in the past. Conditions have been created for the return to their native lands of the Azerbaijani displaced persons who had previously been expelled as a result of brutal ethnic cleansings. The Azerbaijani State is undertaking intensive efforts currently to restore and reintegrate the territories that were ravaged barbarically during the occupation.

Bilateral negotiations are now underway between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia with a view to normalizing the relations, and certain results have already been achieved. It is clear that any international initiative and action ought to be objective, align with the existing realities in the region and fall within the legal frameworks that ensure sovereignty and territorial integrity. Initiatives and actions that disregard the will of the parties and are not accommodated with them could disrupt the process of normalization.

One regrettable aspect to consider is that the pro-Armenian members of the Swiss National Council who voice absurd thoughts about the voluntary departure of ethnic Armenians from Garabagh and accuse Azerbaijan of ethnic cleansing and the destruction of cultural heritage chose to keep silent about the rights of the hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis who were expelled or forcibly deported from their ancestral lands in that country in the late 1980s – both during Armenia's armed aggression against the Republic of Azerbaijan and earlier. Never once throughout the 30 years of occupation did Swiss lawmakers respond to the destruction of Azerbaijani cities and villages, the annihilation of national, cultural, and historical heritage, or the 750,000 Azerbaijanis having become refugees in their own country. On the contrary, in favor of Armenian interests, they take the liberty of disregarding Switzerland's neutrality status and even attempted to steer the Swiss government's policy towards Azerbaijan in a different direction. Such a biased position, an expression of double standards, is utterly unacceptable.

The Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan deems it necessary to emphasize that the fact that 80 members of the National Council of Switzerland voted against the tabled resolution whereas 16 others abstained so that the resolution was passed with 96 votes cast for it shows that the National Council indeed has such members who assess the developments in the South Caucasus impartially and demonstrate a fair attitude towards Azerbaijan. It is unfortunate that their voices are often unheard.

The Parliament of Azerbaijan appreciates the unbiased stance of the Government of Switzerland in regard to this matter. We consider that the recommendation which Minister of Foreign Affairs of this country Ignazio Cassis made on behalf of the Swiss Government to decline the motioned resolution presents Switzerland’s commitment to the principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty whilst testifying to Switzerland’s maintaining a balance between observing international law and maintaining neutrality.

Given that the proposal adopted by the Swiss National Council will be brought up for discussion in the Council of States, the Milli Majlis urges the members of the upper house of the Parliament to refrain from a one-sided approach to this issue and reject the proposal that harm the relations between Azerbaijan and Switzerland.

The Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan calls on all member-states of the international community to refrain from initiatives and actions that could hinder efforts to establish long-term peace and stability in the South Caucasus, and to respect the principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty of states.”