United Nations A/70/1016–S/2016/711 General Assembly Distr.: General 16 August 2016 Security Council Original: English General Assembly Security Council Seventieth session Seventy-first year Agenda items 35 and 40 Protracted conflicts in the GUAM area and their implications for international peace, security and development The situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan Letter dated 15 August 2016 from the Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General Upon instructions from my Government, I have the honour to submit to you the report of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan entitled “Illegal economic and other activities in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan” (see annex).* The facts, figures and statistical data contained in the report, gathered mainly from Armenian public sources, provide sufficient and convincing evidence testifying to the continued activities of the Republic of Armenia in the Nagorno - Karabakh region and other occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan, 1 in breach of international law, including the implantation of settlers from Armenia and abroad, destruction and appropriation of historical and cultural heritage, depredatory exploitation and pillage of and illicit trade in assets, natural resources and other wealth in those territories, accompanied by substantial and systematic interference with public and private property rights. Those activities are carried out despite earlier warnings, demands and condemnation by the international community, and against the background of ongoing efforts towards the earliest political settlement of the conflict. In reality, __________________ * The annex is being circulated in the language of submission only. 1 The territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan occupied by the Republic of Armenia are as follows: the Nagorno-Karabakh region, seven adjacent districts: Lachyn, Kalbajar, Zangilan, Gubadly, Jabrayil, Fuzuly and Aghdam; and three exclaves surrounded by the territory of the Republic of Armenia: the villages of Yukhary Askipara and Barkhudarly of the Gazakh district of Azerbaijan, and the village of Karki of the Sadarak district of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of the Republic of Azerbaijan. 16-14225 (E) 240816 *1614225* A/70/1016 S/2016/711 Armenia imitates its engagement in the conflict settlement process, while undertaking consistent measures aimed at further consolidating the volatile status quo of the occupation. Armenia’s policy and practices in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan undermine the prospects of achieving a political settlement of the conflict and pose an imminent threat to peace, security and stability in the region. Attempts to cover up the illegal activities in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan under the guise of “human rights” or “humanitarian assistance” are fundamentally flawed. It is irrefutable that: • First of all, one cannot demand privileges at the very core of which are gross and systematic violations of international law, including international humanitarian and human rights law, and the discriminatory denial of fundamental rights and freedoms with respect to others, in particular the significantly larger Azerbaijani population that was expelled from the occupied territories as a result of Armenia’s aggression against Azerbaijan. • Secondly, humanitarian relief actions by States, international organizations and other entities and bodies should, by definition, be exclusively humanitarian in nature. They must be carried out in conformity with the principles of neutrality, impartiality and consent of the affected country, while fully respecting the sovereignty, territorial integrity and national unity of States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, as reaffirmed in the guiding principles on humanitarian assistance contained the annex to resolution 46/182 on “Strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian emergency assistance of the United Nations”, adopted by the General Assembly on 19 December 1991. Above all, attempts to change the demographic composition in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan existing before the outbreak of the conflict by artificially increasing the number of Armenians in those territories and preventing the return to their homes and properties of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijani internally displaced persons, along with the destruction or appropriation of property, can in no way be humanitarian in nature and consistent with human rights standards and the above-mentioned guiding principles. Another discreditable and reprehensible fact revealed in the report is that the exploitation of natural resources and other wealth in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan has turned into a lucrative business and is one of the sources of income for Armenia and the subordinate separatist regime it has set up in those territories. The report establishes unequivocally the existence of a clear link between the exploitation and pillage of natural resources and other wealth in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and the unconstructive position of Armenia in the conflict settlement process. International law prohibits the acquisition of territory by force, so that any military occupation is considered temporary in nature and does not entail a transfer of sovereignty over the occupied territory. In its resolutions 822 (1993), 853 (1993), 874 (1993) and 884 (1993), the Security Council condemned the use of force against Azerbaijan and occupation of its territories and reaffirmed the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and the inviolability of its internationally recognized borders. In those resolutions, the Council reaffirmed that the Nagorno - 2/120 16-14225 A/70/1016 S/2016/711 Karabakh region was an integral part of the Republic of Azerbaijan and demanded the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of the occupying forces from all the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. Other international organizations have adopted a similar position. The international community has the responsibility to ensure the strict compliance by Armenia with its international obligations. It is equally important that all States, in accordance with their international obligations, take effective measures that would prevent any activities by their natural and legal persons against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, including the participation in or facilitation of any unlawful activity in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and other occupied territories of Azerbaijan. The unlawful presence of the armed forces of Armenia in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan is the major destabilizing factor, with the potential to escalate at any time, and the main obstacle in the settlement of the conflict. The conflict can only be resolved on the basis of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan within its internationally recognized borders. The military occupation of the territory of Azerbaijan does not and shall never represent a solution to the conflict. The sooner Armenia reconciles with this reality and withdraws its armed forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, the earlier the conflict will be resolved and both countries and their peoples will benefit from the prospects of cooperation and economic development, thus enabling them to implement successfully the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. As you rightly noted in your statement at the Security Council high-level meeting on 11 February 2011, “Peace, security and development are interdependent” (S/PV.6479, p. 2). In the outcome document of the United Nations summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda, entitled “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, the Heads of State and Government and High Representatives, meeting in New York in September 2015, stated that there could be no sustainable development without peace and no peace without sustainable development. They emphasized that the Agenda was to be implemented in a manner that was consistent with the rights and obligations of States under international law, reaffirming the need to respect the territorial integrity and political independence of States, and that every State had, and shall freely exercise, full permanent sovereignty over all its wealth, natural resources and economic activity (see General Assembly resolution 70/1, preamble, para. 8; and para. 18). I should be grateful if you would have the present letter and its annex circulated as a document of the General Assembly, under agenda items 35 and 40, and of the Security Council. (Signed) Yashar Aliyev Ambassador Permanent Representative 16-14225 3/120 A/70/1016 S/2016/711 Annex to the letter dated 15 August 2016 from the Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General Illegal economic and other activities in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan A. Introduction 1. At the end of 1987, the Soviet Socialist Republic of Armenia (Armenian SSR) overtly laid claim to the territory of the Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous oblast (NKAO) of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan (Azerbaijan SSR). Nationalistic demands marked the beginning of the assaults on the Azerbaijanis in, and their expulsion from, both the NKAO and Armenia itself. At the end of 1991 and the beginning of 1992, when the USSR ceased to exist and both Armenia and Azerbaijan attained independence and were accorded international