REFERENDUM ON THE CONSTITUTION OF THE NKR
PanARMENIAN.Net
13.12.2006 GMT+04:00
One more step forward towards the international recognition
According to the USSR Constitution, the autonomous republics and
regions had the same rights as the 15 "main" republics.
Referendum on the Constitution of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic was
held, and as it could be expected, it was held with the unanimous
approval of the population of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. The
World Community’s response was also predictable; nobody recognized
its results, including the OSCE Minsk Group and the Council of Europe
and European Union. U.N.O. wasn’t among those who didn’t recognize it,
but instead GUAM Countries were.
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The mentioned organization, before the referendum had
announced that "holding the referendum is violation of the Constitution
of the Republic of Azerbaijan, norms and principles of international
rights, therefore it will have no legal significance and its results
will be recognized as invalid". Meanwhile, it is worth mentioning
that according to the USSR Constitution, the autonomous republics
and regions had the same rights as the 15 "main" republics. That
means, that the autonomous region of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic,
South Ossetia and all the more Ajaria and Abkhazia, which used to be
autonomous republics, have the right of self-determination without
breaking the principle of territorial integrity. Consequently,
they had and still have the right of holding referendums and
elections. According to the Head of the International Relations
Problems Department of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis
Sergey Markedonov, the referendum on adopting the Constitution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, was first of all addressed to the World
Community. "Both USA and European Union talk much of democratization
as of a crucial factor in solving conflicts in a peaceful way. The
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic demonstrated adherence to this method",
he said.
As for GUAM Countries (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldavia),
they have recently been acting on one principle: "that’s the guilty
conscience speaking", however this principle is not strategically
very successful. Only the powerful country, having no complaints and
demands, is recognized by the World Community. It is the case, when it
has no oil; in case it does, it is quite another thing. Thanks God,
Nagorno-Karabakh has no oil, so it is free to do whatever he wants
(within reasonable limits, of course). Yet, Azerbaijan can always
be controlled and threatened with sanctions of Ilham Aliyev’s
authoritarian regime, who feeds the population with tales about
"fairy oil incomes", but in real the money goes into the clan’s pocket
only. But these are just trifles. Later in an announcement made by
GUAM Countries, there was an idea which was repeated by anyone who
"didn’t recognize the results": "The referendum disturbs the ongoing
peaceful process and aims at destabilizing the situation in the region
and deludes the International Community. This act contradicts the
universally recognized standards and values of democracy and the human
rights. Any Constitutional Document stipulating for self-government
of the Nagorno-Karabakh population may be developed within the
frames of legal, democratic and peaceful processes with full, equal
and immediate participation of the whole population of the region,
composed of both Azerbaijani and Armenian Communities".
The most moving part of the whole story was the part about the
participation of the Azerbaijani Community in the Referendum of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.
Yes, let them come and vote, who doesn’t allow them to? Just wondering,
why should the population of 2-3 villages impose its will on the
95% population? Or maybe the Azerbaijani authorities think that the
safe haven is also included in the territory of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic. Then there are no unanswered questions left, they accepted
themselves, so it means that these territories are not subject to
any return.
In general, there is a rather familiar air in the content of the
announcement- it is very typical to Central Committee of the CPSU,
when Brejnev and Aliyev Senior were in power. The style is very
typical to the party, having tendency for "democracy", as it is
understood by GUAM Countries, and first of all, by Azerbaijan. The
cost of the announcement is the same as that of other parties’
-published and forgotten.
Especially when the discussions about the "frozen conflicts in the
territory of GUAM Countries" have been suspended in U.N.O. for a
year. For an organization like that – a year is a very long term and
it may be considered that the resolution has been simply "frozen".
"PanARMENIAN.Net" analytical department