CONSTITUTION AS A NATIONAL VALUE

Yerkir.am
December 01, 2006

Everything that is accomplished by the nation during its history is
considered to be national value. National values can be developed
through evolution, they can be natural or enforced, or they can be
duplicated voluntarily.

>From this perspective, customs and traditions, religions, ideologies,
national culture and science can be considered as national
values. These value systems are what distinguishes nations from
one another.

Each of the above-mentioned values has its sub-values. For instance,
if the language is a value for the Armenian nation, then Grabar
(the old Armenian), Eastern Armenian, and Western Armenian can be
considered as national sub-values in the overall value system of the
language. In our national value system, the concept of independent
state has a history of only one century because of historical reasons.

Before that, mostly after the fall of the Ani and Cilicia Kingdoms,
the Church and regional rulers had taken up the functions of our
nation state, and they managed to preserve the concept of the state
only partially. The statehood, as a national value, re-emerged in
our history during the First Republic of 1918.

The elements of this value – the anthem, the tri-color, the cote d’arms
and other symbols became values that present our statehood. In our
case as well, as a newly emerging state, we need to create a value
system that would present our statehood. The natural evolution of
this process has reached a point when a constitutional referendum
will soon be held in the Nagorno Karabagh Republic.

Let us once again state that national values are created by the nation
itself. They cannot be imposed over a short period of time. Values
emerge from history. In order to carry these values through history
we need to educate the nation on these values. And for this, we need
national unity and conciliation.

We have the honor to found a new value in our national value
system, a value which is the Constitution of the Nagorno Karabagh
Republic. Adoption of the Constitution will not immediately make it
a national value.

The Constitution, as the basis of all laws, should be accessible to
everyone. Accessibility does not mean availability of some booklets
or promotional materials. Accessibility should be ensured through
every day implementation and compliance with the Constitution. If
we manage to achieve this, the Constitution of the Nagorno Karabagh
Republic will emerge as a national value.
"Aparazh" (Rock), Stepanakert