A resolution calling for the withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from Karabakh has been submitted to the Swedish parliament.
The resolution will first be debated by the foreign affairs committee before being put to the vote in a plenary session of parliament.
The resolution is the initiative of the Swedish-Azerbaijani Academic Society (SAAS), SAAS Chairwoman Nargiz Nedaei told News.Az.
The motion is sponsored by Mehmet Kaplan, MP, leader of the Green Party group in the Swedish parliament. The Green Party is the third largest political party in the country.
The motion, put forward on 5 October, outlines the background to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. It says that the war was triggered by the separatist aspirations of the Armenians in the Republic of Armenia and in Nagorno-Karabakh, and that the war has led to over one million Azerbaijani refugees.
The motion demands that within the UN, EU and other international organizations, Sweden should:
work to break the international silence on Karabakh and to ensure that the issue is brought up on the international political agenda
work for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all Armenian military forces from the occupied Azerbaijani lands
work to ensure that the Armenian minority in Nagorno-Karabakh is guaranteed safety, security and autonomy within the frame of Azerbaijan's territorial boundaries.
be involved in developing special programs for reconciliation and tolerance between Azerbaijanis and Armenians in the Nagorno-Karabakh region
The motion notes that resolutions of the UN, EU and Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, affirm Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and demand an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all Armenian forces from the occupied territories and the return home of all displaced persons.
The motion also refers to violations of international law by the Republic of Armenia and the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh republic, including forced displacement, the looting and burning of homes, kidnapping, and hostage taking, the summary execution of prisoners of war and indiscriminate use of air force against civilians. The Khojaly massacre, in which 613 Azerbaijani civilians were killed, is also mentioned as an example of a well-documented war crime.
The Swedish parliament's foreign affairs committee will debate the contents of the resolution first. If the committee is not unanimous in its recommendations to parliament, the vote in the assembly will be preceded with a discussion. The decisions of the Riksdagen are mandatory, so a positive vote would mean that the Swedish government would have to make the resolution an active part of its foreign policy.
The Swedish-Azerbaijani Academic Society believes that a yes vote would help Sweden to break free "from the apathy around the conflict" and make conflict settlement a priority.
"Passiveness in the west around the conflict depends much on insufficient information. Every opportunity for Azerbaijanis to discuss it is to our advantage, because justice is on our side," the SAAS said.
"Currently there are several motions for resolutions laid by pro-Armenian parliamentarians containing misleading and incorrect information, which has led to a distorted view on the conflict among many members of parliament. With this motion they will now be given more correct information and hear about the conflict from the Azerbaijani perspective, a perspective that is supported by the stance of the international community. These facts will work as an obstacle for Armenian lobby groups in the future since they no longer will be able to spread their lies unhindered," the SAAS continued.
The society describes the resolution as "groundbreaking", because if it can be passed in one parliament, it can be passed in others.
The SAAS urges the Azerbaijani diaspora to back the motion's sponsor, Mehmet Kaplan, as he comes in for criticism from pro-Armenian groups.
This is the second time the SAAS has managed to initiate a motion. The first proposal for a parliamentary resolution concerned the human rights of ethnic Azerbaijanis in Iran.
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