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SITUATION IN KARABAKH 'MIRROR IMAGE OF KOSOVO' - ANALYST
news.az
July 27 2010
Azerbaijan
Svante Cornell The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh is in many ways
a mirror image of Kosovo, strongly weakening the separatists' case
for independence.
Svante E.Cornell, research director at the Central Asia-Caucasus
Institute in Washington DC, believes that the International Court
of Justice ruling on Kosovo's secession from Serbia may have been
misunderstood.
"There may not be anything illegal in terms of international law in
a declaration of independence; it would violate the law of the mother
country, in this case Serbia. But that a declaration of independence
is not illegal does not mean that it is recognized by the rest of
the world," Svante Cornell said in an interview with APA news agency.
He said that the case of Nagorno-Karabakh was very different:
"One difference is the extent of human rights violations and the
changes in population structure. In the case of Kosovo, there was
ethnic cleansing committed against Kosovars by Serbia, which is what
triggered multilateral international intervention under the NATO
umbrella. Thus, international intervention restored the demographic
status before the war.
"In the cases of Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Nagorno-Karabakh,
the situation is very different...There was massive ethnic cleansing
committed by the separatist side, especially in the cases of Karabakh
in 1992-93 and Abkhazia in 1993, as well as in South Ossetia in 2008.
These are, therefore, in many ways mirror images of the Kosovo
situation, strongly weakening the case for independence made by the
separatists. It is a long-standing principle of international law
that it is unacceptable to first alter the demographic situation and
then make political declarations of independence."
From: A. Papazian
news.az
July 27 2010
Azerbaijan
Svante Cornell The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh is in many ways
a mirror image of Kosovo, strongly weakening the separatists' case
for independence.
Svante E.Cornell, research director at the Central Asia-Caucasus
Institute in Washington DC, believes that the International Court
of Justice ruling on Kosovo's secession from Serbia may have been
misunderstood.
"There may not be anything illegal in terms of international law in
a declaration of independence; it would violate the law of the mother
country, in this case Serbia. But that a declaration of independence
is not illegal does not mean that it is recognized by the rest of
the world," Svante Cornell said in an interview with APA news agency.
He said that the case of Nagorno-Karabakh was very different:
"One difference is the extent of human rights violations and the
changes in population structure. In the case of Kosovo, there was
ethnic cleansing committed against Kosovars by Serbia, which is what
triggered multilateral international intervention under the NATO
umbrella. Thus, international intervention restored the demographic
status before the war.
"In the cases of Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Nagorno-Karabakh,
the situation is very different...There was massive ethnic cleansing
committed by the separatist side, especially in the cases of Karabakh
in 1992-93 and Abkhazia in 1993, as well as in South Ossetia in 2008.
These are, therefore, in many ways mirror images of the Kosovo
situation, strongly weakening the case for independence made by the
separatists. It is a long-standing principle of international law
that it is unacceptable to first alter the demographic situation and
then make political declarations of independence."
From: A. Papazian