YEREVAN RULES OUT ANY CONCESSIONS THREATENING SECURITY OF ARTSAKH PEOPLE
PanARMENIAN.Net
10.02.2010 18:21 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The people of Mountainous Karabakh were forced to
pay by blood to defend their right to live freely in a war that was
imposed on them. We must find solutions the implementation of which
will not lead to further displacement and ethnic cleansing, Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan said in his speech at Chatham House, Royal
Institute of International Affairs.
"We have to realize that the people of Karabakh consider that they
have managed, on the one hand, to restore historical justice distorted
during Stalin’s dictatorship, and, on the other, to safeguard the
minimum conditions necessary for their physical survival. It is
with this realization that we continue the talks with Azerbaijan
and perceive the peace process and the efforts of the mediators,"
Armenian leader said.
"The truth is that Karabakh was never a part of independent
Azerbaijan. It was forced into Azerbaijan by a decision of the Soviet
Union party authority, which, defiant of the League of Nations decision
and the popular referendum as a means of determining the border between
Armenia and Azerbaijan, decided in its Caucasus Bureau session in 1921,
under Stalin’s direct pressure, and in violation of the procedure,
to annex Mountainous Karabakh on the condition of forming a national
autonomy on these Armenian territories within the Soviet Socialist
Republic of Azerbaijan. Throughout the Soviet period, the people of
Karabakh never reconciled to this decision. I will not dwell upon
details of Azerbaijan’s state-level policy of cleansing Karabakh
from Armenians and the periodic uprising of the Karabakhis during
the Soviet period, as I believe you all are well-aware of them.
However, I would like to reiterate that the Autonomous Province of
Mountainous Karabakh seceded from the Soviet Union fully in line
with the Soviet laws and all the applicable principles and rules of
international law, exactly as the 15 Soviet Republics did. To sum up
this part of my speech, I would like to reiterate that Mountainous
Karabakh was never a part of independent Azerbaijan: it was annexed
to Azerbaijan by a decision of the Soviet Union party body. The
people of Karabakh never put up with this decision, and upon the
first opportunity, seceded from the Soviet Union fully in line with
the laws of the Soviet Union and the applicable international law."
"The problem has many sensitive and delicate aspects. I urge everyone
to exercise utmost caution when making public statements on the problem
of Mountainous Karabakh, to take into account all the dimensions,
possible consequences, and the perceptions of the sides, and always
to rely on the positions of the organizations that are familiar
with the details of the problem and specialize in its peaceful
resolution: in this case, it would be the OSCE. The problem can only
be resolved in the context of the international law principles of the
self-determination of nations, territorial integrity, and the non-use
of force. All the stakeholders now realize this truth. Whenever one
refers to the Mountainous Karabakh conflict, the notion of territorial
integrity should not be emphatically underlined, especially that
even if that notion is perceived to be the only one applying in the
case of the Mountainous Karabakh conflict, it would not lead to its
application in the form envisioned by Azerbaijan."
"The Republic of Mountainous Karabakh is a well-established state
with its institutions, army, and most importantly, citizens that
exercise control of their fate. Today we, as well as the international
community, witness Artsakh as a contemporary state that is implementing
the ideals of freedom, sovereignty, and democracy; in spite of natural
and manmade difficulties and grave challenges, it is progressing,
strengthening its democratic institutions, government, economy, and
culture, and defending peace. In its "Freedom in the World" Report,
a reputable human rights watchdog, the Freedom House has ranked the
Republic of Mountainous Karabakh among partially free democratic
states, while ranking Azerbaijan as a non-free state. No further
comments are needed here.
The obvious conclusion is that the times of colonizing a people living
on its own soil have long passed. Our belief is that the settlement of
the Karabakh conflict should be based on human rights and the will of
the Karabakh people as an expression of their collective identity. It
is the only way to achieve lasting, feasible, and peaceful settlement.
The alternative to this settlement is the forcing of the Karabakh
people back into Azerbaijan, which will inevitably lead to attempts of
new ethnic cleansing of Armenians in Karabakh. There is no alternative
here, especially given that Azerbaijan has labelled the vast majority
of the Karabakh population as "criminals" over the last two decades.
Hence, in view of the consequences of this alternative, we clearly
rule out any pressure-driven concessions in the Karabakh process that
would threaten the Artsakh people’s physical existence, security,
and right to live in dignity," Armenian President emphasized.
The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan broke out in
1988 as result of the ethnic cleansing the latter launched in the
final years of the Soviet Union. The Karabakh War was fought from
1991 to 1994. Since the ceasefire in 1994, sealed by Armenia, NKR and
Azerbaijan, most of Nagorno Karabakh and several regions of Azerbaijan
around it (the security zone) remain under the control of NKR defense
army. Armenia and Azerbaijan are holding peace talks mediated by the
OSCE Minsk Group up till now.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress