MFA press-release, September 7, 2006

On September 7, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution on "The situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan" proposed by Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan came to an agreement with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs and Armenia after several days of intensive consultations through diplomatic channels, which resulted in the consensus-based adoption of the resolution.

The resolution is important from several aspects. Most importantly, it creates an environment for eradication of the consequences of months-lasting fires and for the rehabilitation of the affected territories. Thus, the document stresses the necessity of the urgent conduct of the environmental operation, calls for assessment of the short-term and long-term impact of the fires on the environment of the region and its rehabilitation. For these purposes, the resolution emphasizes the readiness of the parties to cooperate and calls upon the organizations and programs of the United Nations system, in particular the United Nations Environment Program to cooperate with OSCE.

Another provision reflected in the resolution is consideration of the organization of the OSCE fact-finding mission as the first step in preparation of the environmental operation.

The OSCE Chairman-in-Office is requested to provide a report on this matter to member States of the General Assembly by April 30, 2007.

In order to plan and conduct the operation as envisaged in the resolution, all relevant Government bodies of the Republic of Azerbaijan are actively involved into this process within the created interagency working group. The first meeting of the group took place in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on September 8.

• Full text of the resolution on "The situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan"