General debate of the sixty-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly

General debate of the sixty-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly
Host country United Nations
Dates 21 – 27 September 2011
Venue(s) United Nations Headquarters
Cities New York City

The general debate of the sixty-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly speaking schedule in the General Assembly Chamber in September, 2011 were as follows:

Subjects

In addition to commenting on issues of individual national and wider international relevance, the speakers commented on the theme: "The role of mediation in the settlement of disputes by peaceful means." The theme is traditionally chosen by the President of the General Assembly, who proposes a theme of global relevant to the member states; in turn, the member states then approve of the matter and comment on it during the General Debate.[1]

21 September

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff became the first woman to open the General Debate.
Morning schedule
Afternoon session

22 September

Morning schedule
Afternoon session

23 September

Morning schedule
Afternoon schedule

24 September

Morning schedule
Afternoon schedule

Right of Reply

Member states have the option to reply to comments on the day (or even to the days prior), but are limited to 10 minutes for the first response and five minutes for the second response.

On the day, Serbia used their Right of Reply in reaction to Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha's comments about Kosovo in saying that it has now become an annual ritual on their part and also cited counter claims that Kosovan towns that are ethnically mixed are not stable in communal harmony, contrary to Berisha's claims; Albania duly responded (though the presiding Vice President mistakenly called for Armenia instead, only to realise the delegation was absent and the Albanians asked for clarification). For the second response, Serbia said that it had said all it wanted to and wished not to further the debate; Albania then responded in agreement.[4]

26 September

Morning schedule
Afternoon schedule

Right of Reply

In response to the UAE's claims regarding three disputed islands, the representative of Iran stated that the islands were an eternal part of Iranian territory and under Iran's sovereignty. Regarding the name of the sea between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula, the representative of Iran said that the use of any name other than the Persian Gulf was illegitimate and void. Iran cited agreements in 1971 and said that it was willing to work bilaterally with officials of the UAE to ease "misunderstandings."[6]

Egypt responded to Canada's "utterly false allegations," in which Baird said "Copts [were] being assaulted and killed in Egypt." The Egyptian delegate countered this by citing that since the 2011 Egyptian revolution Copts and Muslims in Egypt stood together and that no church had been trespassed on since then. He also accused Canada of hypocrisy in claiming to stand above such notions.

The UAE then responded to Iran's reply, saying that Iran's allegations were "false" and "illegal," which are "annually repeated in this hall." The UAE said that they had documents to the contrary and that there was no other option but to return them to Emirati sovereignty. The delegate also accused Iran of changing the demographics of the islands.[4]

27 September

Morning schedule
Afternoon schedule
Final schedule
President Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser presiding over the United Nations General Assembly at the General Assembly Hall.

Right of Reply

Sri Lanka replied to Canada's comments about an initiative for dialogue between the two parties to its civil war at the UN Human Rights Council. Sri Lanka said that it was "deeply anguished" and accused Canada of "selective application" of principles.

Armenia responded to Azerbaijan's comments about Armenian aggression on their sovereignty saying that Azerbaijan's comments were "propaganda" akin to that of the Cold War. They cited other measures of negotiations such as that of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation representative at the Minsk group that is attempting to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Armenia said that Azerbaijan is "preaching adherence to international law" while it "single-handedly misinterpreted" statements by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan. They then accused Azerbaijan of having first used force against the "peaceful" expressions of Armenians in NKO and that the statement of the removal of Azeris from NKO and Armenia proper was not true "simply because they had never been there." They similarly accused Azerbaijan of fabricating the number of refugees as 1,000,000 because it does not exist on any international reports and that they are instead deluding their public. Armenia finally added that it was intent on resolving the dispute.

Azerbaijan then responded to Armenia's reply in saying that it was another "testament" to Armenia's "disregard of international law." It counter-accused Armenia of carrying out aggression and ethnic cleansing, as well as blaming them for a "racist ideology" yet criticising and lecturing Azerbaijan. It also reiterated claims of Armenia creating a "monoculture" with the alleged expulsions of Azeris from both Armenia proper and NKO and that there has been intensified attacks in the previous month and an "unprecedented" increase in hate rhetoric with Armenia's historical memory that could to destabilise the region. Azerbaijan finally added that its "territorial integrity" had to be respected; and that Armenia's "destructive agenda" would never be obliged, while Armenia must denounce its claims against its neighbours and act in a more civilised manner.[4]

Notes

  1. ↑ Rousseff became the first ever women to open the General Debate.[2]
  2. ↑ Karzai had to urgently return to Afghanistan following the assassination of Burhanuddin Rabbani. He left his foreign minister to speak on his behalf the following day.[3]
  3. 1 2 This was the first ever speech at the General Assembly's General Debate.
  4. ↑ The President of Palestine was under dispute between Fatah and Hamas at the time of the speech.
  5. ↑ Abbas told the chamber that he submitted Palestine's application for full membership to the UN Secretary-General amidst a standing ovation.[5]

References

  1. ↑ http://gadebate.un.org/
  2. ↑ http://gadebate.un.org/66/brazil
  3. ↑ http://gadebate.un.org/66/afghanistan
  4. 1 2 3 4 United Nations TV. 24–27 September 2011. 20:00 EST.
  5. ↑ "Palestinians set to submit UN bid – Middle East". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  6. ↑ "General Debate: 66th Session – Iran (Islamic Republic of)". 22 September 2011. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
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