Noyan Tapan News Agency
Oct 7 2005

ROBERT KOCHARIAN: “KARABAKH INDEPENDENCE IS IN NO WAY CONNECTED WITH
PRINCIPLE OF TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY”

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 7, NOYAN TAPAN. The independence of Nagorno Karabakh
is in no way connected with the principle of territorial integrity.
RA President Robert Kocharian declared it at the October 7 briefing
in connection with the visit of Latvian President to Armenia.

He explained that after the disintegration of the USSR two states
were proclaimed in its territory – the Nagorno Karabakh Republic that
established independence by a referendum and the Republic of
Azerbaijan that restored its independence of 1918. “NKR has been
never included in the independent Azerbaijan. I don’t remember a case
when territorial integrity was spoken about in the process of
disintegration of an empire as it’s not clear whose territorial
integrity is meant here,” RA President highlighted.

Robert Kocharian mentioned that after the disintegration of the USSR
not only 15 new states were formed – some restored their statehood,
some new states were formed, but the entire political map of Europe
changed: 5 new states were formed in the Balkans, the formation of
the 6th state is underway, Czechoslovakia disintegrated dividing into
2 parts and the two German states united. “Whose territorial
integrity is meant when global changes take place conected with such
a fenomenon as disintegration of the USSR?”

At the same time Robert Kocharian highlighted that Armenia has never
been against the importance of the principle of territorial integrity
and sees no contradiction between the principles of territorial
integrity and self-determination of peoples, the Karabakh issue “just
didn’t contain the territorial integrity that can be placed under
such a principle and respect this principle.”

Answering the question of a Latvian journalist, what is the
President’s conception about the settlement of the conflict that
would satisfy “both sides,” R.Kocharian mentioned that first of all
Nagorno Karabakh people’s opinion must be taken into consideration,
with whom and how it wants to live: “I don’t think that a solution
satisfying all sides of the conflict can be made but I have no doubt
that the issue must be solved proceeding from the principle of
peoples’ right of self-determination applied in Karabakh since the
first days of the movement.”

The Latvian President in her turn mentioned that in this issue her
country shares the neutral position of the European Union. “Of
course, we accept the principle of territorial integrity not
depreciating in this respect people’s right of self-determination,”
the Latvian President declared. She emphasized that over the past
years the principle of territorial integrity has been playing an
important part in elaboration of policy, but in case of Karabakh
Latvia greets peaceful negotiations expressing its assistance to the
efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group in searching for conflict’s solution.

“Judging by your statements one may suppose that for Latvia the
principle of peoples’ self-determination is less important than the
principle of territorial integrity,” answering this question,
Vike-Freiberga mentioned: “In this issue Latvia holds the position of
the European Union and doesn’t say anything that can differ from this
position.”