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The conflict in #NagornoKarabakh has complex legal and historical background, but #Azerbaijan has been referring to #UNSC resolutions to back its claims and justify military action... So I researched a bit to understand what exactly those resolutions say and mean...
The UN Security Council adopted 4 resolutions on #NagornoKarabakh (no 822, 853, 874, 884) at the height of fighting in 1993, exercising its main function of [trying to] maintain peace and security.Key conclusions from the text of the resolutions:
The four resolutions indicate that Nagorno-Karabakh (and not Armenia!) and Azerbaijan are the parties to the conflict.
The resolutions require withdrawal of Nagorno-Karabakh forces from the ‘occupied’ territories adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh, NOT #NagornoKarabakh itself (makes sense, just like you couldn’t ask the English to withdraw from England...).
Nagorno-Karabakh appears to have never been part of independent Azerbaijan because its population voted out while still within USSR and under the laws at the time.(Not directly indicated in the text but can be derived from the vague language and reviews of historical events).
Azerbaijan now claims the occupied territories INCLUDING Nagorno-Karabakh referring to the principle of territorial integrity and citing UN SC resolutions. However...
The UN Security Council does not have the legal powers to determine legal or political aspects of a conflict, including territorial claims. It is there to ensure peace, not more, not less.
In other words, #Azerbaijan cannot use these resolutions as legal justification for territorial claims over #NagornoKarabakh or use of force, which actually goes against the very nature of #UNSC mission (the issue of adjacent territories is separate but still)!@UN @OSCE @coe
