Armenpress News Agency, Armenia
November 13, 2017 Monday


By questioning the legitimacy of Artsakh's right to self-determination
Azerbaijan puts the legitimacy of its independence under doubt



YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 13, ARMENPRESS. Vice President of the National
Assembly of Armenia Eduard Sharmazanov assesses drawing parallels
between Nagorno Karabakh conflict and the processes in Kurdistan and
Catalonia illogical. In an interview with ARMENPRESS Sharmazanov,
commenting on the statement of the deputy speakerofthe Azerbaijani
parliament Bahar Muradova, saying that the international community
should display one and the same approach towards the mentioned three
processes instead of applying double standards, emphasized that they
are totally different cases and it’s a sign of being uneducated to
draw parallels between Nagorno Karabakh conflict and the processes in
Kurdistan and Catalonia.

“How can one draw parallels between those three processes? They are
three totally different cases. The process of self-determination of
Nagorno Karabakh is fully legal and legitimate. It fully complies with
both the Constitution of the Soviet Union and the norms of the
international right. Years ago Nagorno Karabakh used its right to
self-determination in compliance with the same legal norms of the USSR
Constitution that were used by the other 15 republics. The USSR
Constitution allowed autonomous subjects to decide their own fates by
a referendum, something that Nagorno Karabakh did. And today if
Azerbaijan is questioning the legitimacy of Artsakh’s right to
self-determination, it puts the legitimacy of its own and the other
post-Soviet states’ independence under doubt” Sharmazanov said.

As refers to Muradova’s discontent over the activities of the OSCE
Minsk Group Co-chairs, and her opinion about the necessity to change
the negotiation format, the Vice President of the parliament of
Armenia stressed that Azerbaijan pours water into Turkey's watermill,
which tries to become a mediator in Nagorno Karabakh conflict
settlement process by all means. “But that will never happen. Turkey
has no place in OSCE MG format since that country overtly supports one
of the conflicting sides, Azerbaijan – something that questions
Turkey’s impartiality as a mediator. Besides, Ankara is famous in the
region for its unconstructive polices. And not only I speak about
that, but also Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who emphasized
following the April war that Turkey makes calls for war but not for
peace”, Sharmazanov said.