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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.
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.