Azerbaijan De Facto Recognized NKR Existence

PanARMENIAN.Net
20.09.2006 16:14 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Although not recognized formally by any government,
Karabakh’s continued march to secure lasting independence is
irreversible, Nagorno-Karabakh’s representative to the United
States, Vardan Barseghian said. "There is no going back for us,"
he said. "Just because Stalin gave Karabakh to Azerbaijan does not
mean that the international community has to reinforce what Stalin
did." He continued: "What [Stalin] did at the beginning of the last
century was against the will of our people. And now we are at the
beginning of the 21st Century."

So far, negotiations among the key players since the 1994 ceasefire,
notably through the OSCE’s Minsk Group, have produced a lot of
statements and occasional glimmers of hope, but no concrete progress
on a lasting political solution.

But, clearly, Karabakh is not waiting for others to decide its
future. It has been working to shore up its defenses while steadily
improving its economy and the lot of its 145,000 people. Barseghian
noted that GDP doubled from 2001 to 2005 (increasing to $114 million
from $53 million), and economic growth last year was 14 percent.

Although Karabakh is still a very poor country in a seemingly
precarious political situation, its people are evidently working hard
to improve their economy and prospects for the future.

Asked about possible recognition of their republic, Barseghian said
"there are positive tendencies" in that direction. He said "governments
recognize the fact that the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic has been
established and functioning as a country, and more and more contacts
look like regular government-to-government contacts." "However,
Washington closely watches the developments in Karabakh including
economic progress and democratization though the US government
tries not to portray these as regular contacts, for obvious reasons"
he added.

"I believe the world recognizes that we deserve to be free, and as a
minimum we should avoid another disaster. International recognition
of Karabakh’s independence will discourage another attack by
Azerbaijan. The ceasefire has held for 12 years, and we believe this
is due to the natural balance of forces." He noted that Azerbaijan’s
oil revenue has been used in part to strengthen its armed forces, and
Karabakh (and Armenia) stress to the US Congress and administration
that a military balance should be maintained to prevent a new attack
by Azerbaijan," Barseghian resumed, reports DiplomaticTraffic.com.