ACNIS Explores the Karabagh Issue

hetq
16:47, May 19, 2011

The Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS)
today convened a policy roundtable, entitled “The Karabagh Question in
Armenia and International Arena: New Circumstances, Old Approaches,”
to examine the imperative of discussing the Artsakh problem in a wholly
new way both in Armenia and within international circles. The meeting
brought together representatives from international organizations
and the diplomatic community in Yerevan, leading analysts, policy
specialists, and members of the press.

Welcoming the audience with opening remarks, ACNIS analyst Edgar
Vardanian stated that “Even though the most recent geopolitical
developments compel us to reflect on the Karabagh question more
frequently, this does not reduce further the level of public
uncertainty concerning this matter. And our discussion today will
also have the objective of shedding light on this issue’s several
aspects which are of social interest,” Vardanian noted.

In his intervention, international law expert Andrias Ghukasyan
examined the possible outcomes of, and existing concerns regarding,
the recognition of the Mountainous Karabagh Republic (MKR), and
underscored the need to adopt new and bold attitudes and to dispose
of old and used up stereotypes. According to Ghukasyan, when it comes
to the steps taken toward settling the Karabagh conflict~Wincluding
those measures within Artsakh’s recognition process~Wnot solely the UN
underpinnings for the recognition of the right of self-determination,
but also the precepts of the Regional Agreement and the Helsinki
Final Act must be accepted as bases, especially since the precedents
of Kosovo, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia do exist. “It is time for
Armenia to review its policies with respect to Karabagh’s equality
of rights and other related matters, and to become free of those
stereotypes which existed 15-20 years ago but have not matured since,”
the international law expert maintained.

In his turn, ACNIS Director of Research Manvel Sargsian looked at
the Karabagh question in terms of Armenia’s political agenda. He
likewise analyzed the existing entrenched stereotypes and also
stressed that in the Armenian scene, and as a rule, virtually all
phenomena have begun to be conditioned on the Karabagh factor, and
this is extremely perilous. Sargsian also stated that the mindset
according to which the Karabagh issue must be resolved exclusively
within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group is equally dangerous,
and this approach severely limits our active engagement. “And what
must we do ourselves? For the past seventeen years we have had but
one function: to maintain the security of a territory which still
does not have any international-or at least political-status, and
to this day it is recognized as an ‘occupied territory,'” Sargsian
argued. He also expressed a conviction that unless Karabagh attains
a clear status, no success will be achieved in the peace talks. And,
as per ACNIS’s Director of Research, the variety of decisions being
reached on this issue are simply increasing the likelihood of resuming
war because the right to use force has always been given to Azerbaijan.

The presentations were followed by a series of questions and answers,
and featured a lively exchange with the audience. The roundtable
discussants also included former Deputy Speaker of the Armenian
National Assembly, Karapet Rubinyan; governance expert Harutiun
Mesropyan; chairman Edward Antinyan of the Ramkavar Liberal Party of
Armenia; political scientists Aleksandr Kananyan and Levon Urumyan;
ACNIS senior analyst Hovsep Khurshudian; and several others.