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Serbia Accepted The Results Of The Referendum. Azerbaijan Is NotCivi

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  • Serbia Accepted The Results Of The Referendum. Azerbaijan Is NotCivi

    SERBIA ACCEPTED THE RESULTS OF THE REFERENDUM. AZERBAIJAN IS NOT CIVILIZED ENOUGH FOR THIS
    By Karine Mangassarian

    Yerkir.am
    June 09, 2006

    There is very scarce information about the last round of negotiations
    between the Armenian and Azeri presidents in Bucharest around the
    Karabagh settlement. Nevertheless, the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk
    Group believe the settlement of the Karabagh conflict in 2006 is
    "urgent and realistic".

    At the same time, they add that at present stage the sides do
    not manage to come to an agreement around the principles of the
    settlement. The Co-chairs believe that "the main principles set out
    and presented to the conflicting sides by them ensure adequate basis
    for the settlement of the conflict."

    How can this optimism on the part of the Co-chairs be explained if
    every next round of the negotiations yields no results? Member of ARF's
    Board, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Vahan Hovhannissian
    answered the journalists' questions at the National Assembly this
    week. Hovhannissian stressed a proposal that was put into circulation
    recently according to which the second referendum should be held in
    Nagorno Karabagh.

    The Armenian side does not seem to have objections to this proposal
    even though the people of Karabagh have already expressed their will
    in the first referendum. In what cases should the second referendum
    be held? "We can hold a second referendum only if Azerbaijan declares
    beforehand that it will accept the results of the referendum, which
    means that it will accept the Karabagh population's right to self
    determination because we cannot hold a referendum just for the sake
    of it.

    The referendum will have certain results, and Azerbaijan must declare
    today that it will accept the results of this referendum even if it
    is not very happy with them. This means that Azerbaijan recognizes
    Nagorno Karabagh's right for self determination. This is the concession
    Azerbaijan has to make, but does not want to do so. This is the reason
    why the negotiations are not efficient," Hovhannissian said.

    In this case, how can the two mutually exclusive principles of self
    determination and territorial integrity be combined in the process of
    conflict settlement? The President of Azerbaijan repeatedly states
    that no settlement that violates Azerbaijan's territorial integrity
    can be acceptable for Azerbaijan.

    Answering this question Hovhannissian reminded that Armenia was the
    first republic in the Soviet Union that unilaterally applied the right
    to self determination through a referendum and did so in compliance
    with international norms. "However, at that time the world public
    opinion was not yet ready to accept this mechanism in its entirety.

    Time showed that this mechanism is working - East Timor, Eritrea,
    now Montenegro, tomorrow Kosovo will most likely follow the same
    scenario. This means that this mechanism is gradually put into the
    international political practice. Why shouldn't the same mechanism
    be applied to Nagorno Karabagh? There is only one reason - because
    Azerbaijan is not a civilized country," Hovhannissian stated.

    He referred to the recent referendum held in Montenegro: Montenegro
    held a referendum and Serbia, as reluctant as it was, accepted the
    results.

    Meanwhile, Azerbaijan does not accept the results of the first
    referendum and does not want to accept the results of the proposed
    second referendum. Before the meeting in Bucharest Robert Kocharian
    stated that there are no cases when states formed based on the
    principle of self determination go back to their previous status.

    The journalists observed that the international community likes to
    repeat that these are all states that became independent as a result
    of decolonialization processes. Hovhannissian noted colonies were
    different and therefore their self-organization modes were different.

    "For instance, France conquered Algiers, Britain conquered Kenya. Then
    these countries gained independence. Azerbaijan did not conquer
    Karabagh. It received Karabagh as a present from the Bolsheviks.

    The outcome is the same, only the mechanisms of getting control of
    the territories in question are different. Therefore, the liberation
    of Nagorno Karabagh was a national liberation struggle and is a part
    of the decolonialization process," Hovhannissian stated.
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