NKR MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS STATEMENT

Azat Artsakh, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]
16 Dec 2006

On December 10 the NKR Constitution was adopted by a referendum. The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs is concerned about the attitude of the
international European organizations towards the referendum held in
NKR, who make statements doubting that the people of Nagorno Karabakh
are in the legal sphere. The ministry notes that the referendum set
down the principles of democracy in the basic law of the country and
was another stage in shaping the legislation, and is intended to
promote new, more progressive principles in public administration, as
well as establish a civil society. In this connection, the attempts of
the European organizations, which have adopted democracy and the rule
of law, to neglect and reject the democratic and legislative process
in Nagorno Karabakh appear strange. At the same time, the ministry
believes that the adoption of the Constitution cannot obstruct the
constructive efforts of the international observers to facilitate a
peace settlement of the conflict over Karabakh. The recent statements,
which hint that the referendum on the NKR Constitution will hinder the
talks, imply that by adopting the Constitution of the Republic of
Azerbaijan by a referendum in 1995 and the amendments in 2002 official
Baku intended to obstruct the talks. So why did the European
organizations fail to criticize the policy of Azerbaijan at that time?
Over the past 15 years separate representatives of international
organizations have displayed an inconsistent reaction to similar
procedures in Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and Azerbaijan. The
international community has always had an important role in
influencing the nature of processes in conflict areas. Only the fact
that the international community recognized the outcome of the
referendum on the independence of Azerbaijan in 1991 but refused to
recognize a similar referendum held in Nagorno Karabakh encouraged
Azerbaijan to claim to Karabakh, which resulted in the Azerbaijani
aggression against Nagorno Karabakh. The referendum on the NKR
Constitution cannot determine the outcome of the consultations on the
settlement of the conflict under the aegis of the OSCE Minsk Group.
Moreover, a question occurs whether the permanent stance of Azerbaijan
on territorial integrity, as well as the provision in the Azerbaijani
Constitution that Azerbaijan is a unitary state are not factors which
determine and disrupt the logic of the Minsk process, based on the
right for self-determination along with other principles. The NKR
Ministry of Foreign Affairs hopes that the European organizations will
be guided by the democratic principles they had declared and will
reconsider their biased attitude towards the democratic process in
Nagorno Karabakh. December 13, 2006

16-12-2006