TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY OR NATIONS’ SELF-DETERMINATION? ATHENS DECLARATION UNDER SCRUTINY

Tert.am
13:41 ~U 19.01.10

"Despite the fact that practical results in our foreign policy’s main
issue, in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, were not registered in 2009,
I believe that certain progress was made. It’s already become clearer
through which path the issue has to be resolved," said Azerbaijan’s
President Ilham Aliyev, during a Cabinet meeting yesterday.

In Aliyev’s words, the declaration in relation to the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict that came about as a result of the OSCE Ministerial Council
meeting in December 2009 in Athens clearly indicates how to go about
settling the conflict.

"In there, it is noted that the issue must be resolved on the principle
of the countries’ territorial integrity. I think that the main aspect
is that Armenia has come onboard for the first time, has signed it,
and thus, accepted the conflict’s resolution within the principle of
territorial integrity."

"As for peoples’ self-determination, this too can also be resolved
within the frames of the country’s territorial integrity. All
international declarations assume such an approach. The issue of
self-determination of nations shouldn’t infringe upon the countries’
territorial integrity.

"I think that this resolution can become decisive in the settlement
of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue," added the Azerbaijani president.

As previously reported, Armenia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs had
also referred to the declaration signed in Athens, emphasizing that
with it, the OSCE Ministerial Council confirmed for the first time
that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be resolved on the basis of
the principle of the nations’ self-determination.