REACTION FROM KARABAKH. RUSSIA’S APPROACH IS NOT NEUTRAL
Haykakan Zhamanak
July 8 2008
Armenia
The declaration on friendship and strategic cooperation between
the Russian Federation and Azerbaijan, which was recently signed
by Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev and Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev in Baku, continues to receive surprising comments by
government propagandists.
Moreover, TV channels are doing everything to either hide details of
the declaration from the public or to obscure its dangerous points.
How is this declaration evaluated in Nagornyy Karabakh itself? The
former deputy foreign minister of the Nagornyy Karabakh republic,
former presidential candidate Masis Mailyan stressed in an interview
with us:
"All Helsinki principles are equal, and distinguishing only some
of them that are more liked by someone is at least not correct,"
Mailyan said. He emphasized that the declaration signed in Baku
lacks an important principle of the Helsinki final act adopted by the
Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (now OSCE) in 1975,
such as the equality of peoples and the right to self-determination.
Mailyan also emphasized that one would not have paid so much attention
to the issue if Russia had not been one of the signatories of the
declaration.
As Russia is one of the mediators in the Karabakh-Azerbaijani conflict,
such a unilateral approach does not comply with the principles of
neutrality and impartiality, by which mediators should be guided,"
Mailyan said.
Mailyan stressed that, of course, the Armenian side can emphasize
that from the legal point of view Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity,
which is an important point in this declaration, has no connection with
the Nagornyy Karabakh republic. However this would be self-deception,
says Mailyan, because this legal approach has not yet enjoyed necessary
support by the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, who are expressing
more of a political attitude to this issue.
"Another dangerous signal for us is considered to the hindering of
investments in Karabakh’s economy, which Azerbaijan has long been
striving for. This was included in the text of the declaration.
"The document also says that any of the sides will not allow the
operation of such entities, enterprises, companies and other businesses
in its country, which can harm the sovereign rights and interests of
the other side," Mailyan says, adding that there are no doubts that
Azerbaijan’s next step would be convincing Russia to stop investments
into [Karabakh’s] Artsakh’s economy, which are carried out by Armenians
residing in Russia and companies belonging to them.
"In this case Azerbaijan will refer to this declaration signed in Baku
and will affirm that any support to the development of Karabakh’s
economy harms the sovereign rights and interests of this strategic
partner of Russia," Mailyan predicts. He emphasizes that under these
circumstances Armenian diplomats should take all possible steps to
stop such a dangerous trend as the declaration signed in Baku.
Mailyan says that it is possible to understand why Russia has signed
this declaration. This state has its own interests. But on the other
hand, Mailyan says, if Russia is a mediator in the Karabakh conflict,
it should have behaved differently.