news.am, Armenia
Aug 8 2009

South Ossetian war made self-determination issue urgent

15:27 / 08/08/2009The August war in South Ossetia brought the issue on
self-determination to the forefront. Artsruni Aghajanyan, Secretary of
the Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law) parliamentary faction told
NEWS.am.

According to him, the international community did not consider
territorial changes necessary, but the August war proved the
significance of the issue. Kosovo was the first to exercise the right
of nations to self-determination and some time is required for the
international community to accept the process.

Commenting on OSCE MG Co-Chair Matthew Bryza’s statement that Kosovo
cannot serve as a precedent for Nagorno-Karabakh, as Serbia was
recognized as an aggressor, Aghajanyan said: `Any process has main and
related aspects. As to Kosovo, the main aspect is self-determination,
the rest are just related ones. Self-determination cannot be
recognized in one case, and not taken into account in
another. Conflicts between peoples cannot be settled differently,’ he
stated. Aghajanyan added that Russia and West strive to maintain their
influence over the region and their interests clash in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. `Both sides seek only to a peaceful
settlement of the conflict,’ he said.

Commenting of RF President Dmitry Medvedev’s statement expressing
concern over Georgia’s repeated threats to restore its territorial
integrity by force, Aghajanyan pointed out that the Armenian side
should not be concerned over the fact that the Russian leader did not
mention similar warlike statements made by Azerbaijan. `He was
speaking of the August war and singled out Georgia. But Russia has not
forgotten the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and that country has
repeatedly pronounced for a peaceful settlement of the conflict,’ he
said.