Tweet
BAKU LOST MORAL RIGHT TO CUSTODY OF KARABAKH PEOPLE
PanARMENIAN.Net
26.09.2006 14:10 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "We follow the Kosovo self-determination process
very closely," Armenian FM Vartan Oskanian stated at the 61st session
of the UN GA, reports the Press Office of the MFA of Armenia.
"We ourselves strongly support the process of self-determination for
the population of Nagorno Karabakh. Yet, we do not draw parallels
between these two or any other conflicts. We believe that conflicts
are all different and each must be decided on its own merits. While
we do not look at the outcome of Kosovo as a precedent, on the other
hand, a Kosovo decision cannot and should not result in the creation
of obstacles to self-determination for others in order to pre-empt
the accusation of precedence. Such a reverse reaction - to prevent
or pre-empt others from achieving well-earned self-determination -
is unacceptable," the Minister said. In his words, efforts to do just
that - by elevating territorial integrity above all other principles -
are already underway, especially in the chamber, where the session took
place. "But this contradicts the lessons of history. There is a reason
that the Helsinki Final Act enshrines self-determination as an equal
principle. In international relations, just as in human relations,
there are no absolute rights. There are also responsibilities. A state
must earn the right to lead and govern. States have the responsibility
to protect their citizens. A people choose the government, which
represents them," Oskanian said.
"The people of Nagorno Karabakh chose long ago not to be represented
by the government of Azerbaijan. They were the victims of state
violence, they defended themselves, and succeeded against great odds,
only to hear the state cry foul and claim sovereignty and territorial
integrity. But the government of Azerbaijan has lost the moral right
to even suggest providing for their security and their future, let
alone to talk of custody of the people of Nagorno Karabakh. Azerbaijan
did not behave responsibly or morally with the people of Nagorno
Karabakh, who it considered to be its own citizens. They sanctioned
massacres in urban areas, far from Nagorno Karabakh; they bombed and
displaced more than 300,000 Armenians; they unleashed the military;
and after they lost the war and accepted a cease-fire, they proceeded
to destroy all traces of Armenians on their territories.
In the most cynical expression of such irresponsibility, this last
December, a decade after the fighting had stopped, they completed the
final destruction and removal of thousands of massive hand-sculpted
cross-stones - medieval Armenian tombstones elaborately carved
and decorated. Such destruction, in an area with no Armenians,
at a distance from Nagorno Karabakh and any conflict areas, is a
callous demonstration that Azerbaijan's attitude toward tolerance,
human values, cultural treasures, cooperation or even peace, has not
changed," V. Oskanian underscored.
PanARMENIAN.Net
26.09.2006 14:10 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "We follow the Kosovo self-determination process
very closely," Armenian FM Vartan Oskanian stated at the 61st session
of the UN GA, reports the Press Office of the MFA of Armenia.
"We ourselves strongly support the process of self-determination for
the population of Nagorno Karabakh. Yet, we do not draw parallels
between these two or any other conflicts. We believe that conflicts
are all different and each must be decided on its own merits. While
we do not look at the outcome of Kosovo as a precedent, on the other
hand, a Kosovo decision cannot and should not result in the creation
of obstacles to self-determination for others in order to pre-empt
the accusation of precedence. Such a reverse reaction - to prevent
or pre-empt others from achieving well-earned self-determination -
is unacceptable," the Minister said. In his words, efforts to do just
that - by elevating territorial integrity above all other principles -
are already underway, especially in the chamber, where the session took
place. "But this contradicts the lessons of history. There is a reason
that the Helsinki Final Act enshrines self-determination as an equal
principle. In international relations, just as in human relations,
there are no absolute rights. There are also responsibilities. A state
must earn the right to lead and govern. States have the responsibility
to protect their citizens. A people choose the government, which
represents them," Oskanian said.
"The people of Nagorno Karabakh chose long ago not to be represented
by the government of Azerbaijan. They were the victims of state
violence, they defended themselves, and succeeded against great odds,
only to hear the state cry foul and claim sovereignty and territorial
integrity. But the government of Azerbaijan has lost the moral right
to even suggest providing for their security and their future, let
alone to talk of custody of the people of Nagorno Karabakh. Azerbaijan
did not behave responsibly or morally with the people of Nagorno
Karabakh, who it considered to be its own citizens. They sanctioned
massacres in urban areas, far from Nagorno Karabakh; they bombed and
displaced more than 300,000 Armenians; they unleashed the military;
and after they lost the war and accepted a cease-fire, they proceeded
to destroy all traces of Armenians on their territories.
In the most cynical expression of such irresponsibility, this last
December, a decade after the fighting had stopped, they completed the
final destruction and removal of thousands of massive hand-sculpted
cross-stones - medieval Armenian tombstones elaborately carved
and decorated. Such destruction, in an area with no Armenians,
at a distance from Nagorno Karabakh and any conflict areas, is a
callous demonstration that Azerbaijan's attitude toward tolerance,
human values, cultural treasures, cooperation or even peace, has not
changed," V. Oskanian underscored.