S/PV.6809 Security Council

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. Members of the Council have before them document S/2012/555, which contains the text of a draft resolution submitted by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. I wish to draw the attention of Council members to document S/2012/507, which contains the report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations operation in Cyprus. It is my understanding that the Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution before it. I should like to inform the Council that the presidency of the Council has met with the representatives of the parties, who have confirmed that they maintain their well-known positions vis-à-vis the item on the Council’s agenda. On the basis of those meetings, with the consent of the members of the Council, the presidency has drawn the conclusion that the Council can proceed to take a decision on the draft resolution before it. If I hear no objection, I shall put the draft resolution to the vote now. There being no objection, it is so decided.

There were 13 votes in favour, none against and two abstentions. The draft resolution has been adopted as resolution 2058 (2012). I shall now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements after the voting.

I should like to briefly share with the Council the reasoning behind our vote on resolution 2058 (2012). Azerbaijan believes that achieving a mutually acceptable and comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem within the established United Nations parameters is possible and within reach. Therefore, I would like to reiterate our full support for the Secretary-General’s efforts to that end. It is clear that the settlement can be attained only through a results-oriented process and continued support to the Secretary-General’s good offices mission. In our view, the resolution just adopted is inconsistent with the Secretary-General’s assessment contained in paragraphs 4 and 43 of his report in document S/2012/507. Thus, the Secretary-General is of the view, inter alia, that “a stage in the negotiation process has once again been reached where it is incumbent on the sides to agree to and proceed with a way forward for the talks” (S/2012/507, para. 43). In fact, the resolution does not place the required emphasis on the necessity to agree on a results-oriented process. Unfortunately, our proposed amendments in that regard, which were supported by some other Council members, were not heeded. Furthermore, our proposal  — again supported by some other Council members — to ensure that the language of the preamble reflected a sense of encouragement of the review, which we believe is essential to ensuring that the mandate of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus operates in accordance with the developments and realities on the ground, was not given due consideration. As a result, according to our understanding, the resolution just adopted significantly reduces the importance of such a review. For the reasons I have just cited, Azerbaijan decided to abstain in the voting on resolution 2058 (2012).

My delegation would like to express its disappointment and dissatisfaction at the way the Council has proceeded with resolution 2058 (2012). From the point of view of both procedure and substance, the Council could have done better. We would like to note that not enough time was given to all Council members to engage in open and transparent negotiations that could have achieved the desired consensus on the text. The views of all members have, unfortunately, not been taken on board, and the text is also not fully reflective of the recommendations of the Secretary-General. It was also important to fairly reflect the views of the parties in the text. In view of all this, it was not possible for my delegation to join the consensus.

There are no more names on the list of speakers. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda.