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ACKNOWLEDGING THAT NK PEOPLE HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE IN CHARGE OF THEIR OWN DESTINY WOULD HAVE HELPED
PanARMENIAN.Net
16.06.2008 17:24 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The article "Negotiating a black hole" by Alexandros
Petersen on Cif on June 7, was regretfully unbecoming for such a
reputable newspaper [The Guardian]. The author refers to a conflict
of which he either has little understanding, or knowingly distorts
the truth. He fails to mention how the conflict evolved and grossly
misjudges its character, Armenia's Ambassador to the UK Vahe Gabrielyan
says in his response titled "Misrepresenting the issues in Nagorno
Karabakh."
"The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not an "ethno-religious conflict"
and not one over a disputed territory where "Armenian Christians [are]
against Azerbaijani Muslims". It is about the fundamental human rights
issue of self-determination, one of being able to peacefully live on
the land of your ancestors and be the master of your own destiny. The
current situation is a result of decades-long systematic abuse of the
human rights and ethnic cleansing of the indigenous Armenian population
by the Soviet Azeri authorities since the unlawful annexation of the
ancient Armenian province (Artsakh) to Azerbaijan and later, of pogroms
and outright military aggression against the peaceful population.
"The military phase of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Nagorno
Karabakh ended with the victory of the latter's hastily-formed defense
forces and enabled their people to start re-building their lives
and homes. Since its independence (impeccably proclaimed according
to same laws and procedures by which Azerbaijan gained independence
from the USSR), in the political and socio-economic turmoil following
the break-up of the Soviet Union and even under military aggression,
Nagorno Karabakh has been a surprising case of rule of law and
well-functioning state machine. Starting with the independence
referendum in 1991, all manifestations of its people's will, which
included four presidential elections and several parliamentary and
local ones, have been orderly, dignified and democratic exercises, as
witnessed by numerous independent international observers, including,
incidentally, members of the UK parliament and the US Congress.
"Indeed, Nagorno-Karabakh is not "a governance black hole", but a
well-functioning democratic entity with strengthening civil society
and full economic and cultural life, possessing all attributes of an
independent state, save for international recognition.
Its elected authorities have announced on several occasions that
they would be happy to receive international inspection missions
who can study the situation in situ and refute any groundless
allegations. There have been no volunteers to chase ghosts. The
allegations of all earthly sins in the mentioned article, happily
picked en masse from the Azeri propaganda machine of libelous
campaign of hatred and misinformation against Karabakh and enriched
by references to all possible evils of our times to scare the modern
security-conscious citizen are so bizarre that they are at best
ignored or frowned upon in any more or less informed circles.
"However, the author is right in saying that the conflict should
concern Europe. It should, because although the people of Karabakh have
been able to stop the regular bombings of their homes by resorting to
self-defense, peace has not been made final yet and threats of war
are heard from the other side of the border regularly. It should,
because although we keep fingers cross for the renewed negotiations
between the presidents and foreign ministers to succeed - the last,
June 6 round was constructive and it was decided to continue them
- the continuing military rhetoric and the fierce anti-Armenian
hate campaign on all levels of society, combined with the mentioned
ever-growing military budget, are an ominous sign. It is much worrying
that today, fed on this campaign; more than one-third of Azeris are
for a military solution while international mediators (the Minsk Group
co-chair countries) are widely lambasted for their impartiality. The
oil money paid by the European companies should not facilitate the
unleashing of another war, the consequences of which will indeed be
dire. With a fragile ceasefire being maintained simply because of the
balance of power, it is easy to instigate another war that will hugely
increase the toll on human life and create new refugees. On top of
the already existing one million, about 400,000 of which by the way
are the Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan and from Nagorno Karabakh,
this will result in a large-scale humanitarian disaster affecting whole
of Europe and beyond. This cannot be allowed to happen. This is why
both past and present Armenian authorities have readily engaged in
negotiations in good faith and have strived to find lasting peace,
despite and because of the fact that one party of the conflict,
Azerbaijan, refuses to talk to Nagorno Karabakh, the other party.
"Security in the modern world is certainly a global problem and in
order to ensure global peace and security, frozen conflicts should
be resolved in a way so that the vital interests of all parties are
taken into account. That will take concessions on both sides and it
is a hard thing to do. In order to help, the international community,
as well as its individual members, should adopt an attitude based on
values and principles that apply universally. Acknowledging that the
people of NK have the right to be in charge of their own destiny would
have helped. It has in other cases. On the other hand, giving in to
dirty propaganda and trying to discredit one side, be it with either
explicit or implied allegations does not help and raises questions,"
Ambassador Gabrielyan said.
PanARMENIAN.Net
16.06.2008 17:24 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The article "Negotiating a black hole" by Alexandros
Petersen on Cif on June 7, was regretfully unbecoming for such a
reputable newspaper [The Guardian]. The author refers to a conflict
of which he either has little understanding, or knowingly distorts
the truth. He fails to mention how the conflict evolved and grossly
misjudges its character, Armenia's Ambassador to the UK Vahe Gabrielyan
says in his response titled "Misrepresenting the issues in Nagorno
Karabakh."
"The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not an "ethno-religious conflict"
and not one over a disputed territory where "Armenian Christians [are]
against Azerbaijani Muslims". It is about the fundamental human rights
issue of self-determination, one of being able to peacefully live on
the land of your ancestors and be the master of your own destiny. The
current situation is a result of decades-long systematic abuse of the
human rights and ethnic cleansing of the indigenous Armenian population
by the Soviet Azeri authorities since the unlawful annexation of the
ancient Armenian province (Artsakh) to Azerbaijan and later, of pogroms
and outright military aggression against the peaceful population.
"The military phase of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Nagorno
Karabakh ended with the victory of the latter's hastily-formed defense
forces and enabled their people to start re-building their lives
and homes. Since its independence (impeccably proclaimed according
to same laws and procedures by which Azerbaijan gained independence
from the USSR), in the political and socio-economic turmoil following
the break-up of the Soviet Union and even under military aggression,
Nagorno Karabakh has been a surprising case of rule of law and
well-functioning state machine. Starting with the independence
referendum in 1991, all manifestations of its people's will, which
included four presidential elections and several parliamentary and
local ones, have been orderly, dignified and democratic exercises, as
witnessed by numerous independent international observers, including,
incidentally, members of the UK parliament and the US Congress.
"Indeed, Nagorno-Karabakh is not "a governance black hole", but a
well-functioning democratic entity with strengthening civil society
and full economic and cultural life, possessing all attributes of an
independent state, save for international recognition.
Its elected authorities have announced on several occasions that
they would be happy to receive international inspection missions
who can study the situation in situ and refute any groundless
allegations. There have been no volunteers to chase ghosts. The
allegations of all earthly sins in the mentioned article, happily
picked en masse from the Azeri propaganda machine of libelous
campaign of hatred and misinformation against Karabakh and enriched
by references to all possible evils of our times to scare the modern
security-conscious citizen are so bizarre that they are at best
ignored or frowned upon in any more or less informed circles.
"However, the author is right in saying that the conflict should
concern Europe. It should, because although the people of Karabakh have
been able to stop the regular bombings of their homes by resorting to
self-defense, peace has not been made final yet and threats of war
are heard from the other side of the border regularly. It should,
because although we keep fingers cross for the renewed negotiations
between the presidents and foreign ministers to succeed - the last,
June 6 round was constructive and it was decided to continue them
- the continuing military rhetoric and the fierce anti-Armenian
hate campaign on all levels of society, combined with the mentioned
ever-growing military budget, are an ominous sign. It is much worrying
that today, fed on this campaign; more than one-third of Azeris are
for a military solution while international mediators (the Minsk Group
co-chair countries) are widely lambasted for their impartiality. The
oil money paid by the European companies should not facilitate the
unleashing of another war, the consequences of which will indeed be
dire. With a fragile ceasefire being maintained simply because of the
balance of power, it is easy to instigate another war that will hugely
increase the toll on human life and create new refugees. On top of
the already existing one million, about 400,000 of which by the way
are the Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan and from Nagorno Karabakh,
this will result in a large-scale humanitarian disaster affecting whole
of Europe and beyond. This cannot be allowed to happen. This is why
both past and present Armenian authorities have readily engaged in
negotiations in good faith and have strived to find lasting peace,
despite and because of the fact that one party of the conflict,
Azerbaijan, refuses to talk to Nagorno Karabakh, the other party.
"Security in the modern world is certainly a global problem and in
order to ensure global peace and security, frozen conflicts should
be resolved in a way so that the vital interests of all parties are
taken into account. That will take concessions on both sides and it
is a hard thing to do. In order to help, the international community,
as well as its individual members, should adopt an attitude based on
values and principles that apply universally. Acknowledging that the
people of NK have the right to be in charge of their own destiny would
have helped. It has in other cases. On the other hand, giving in to
dirty propaganda and trying to discredit one side, be it with either
explicit or implied allegations does not help and raises questions,"
Ambassador Gabrielyan said.