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INDONESIA'S ACEH PROVINCE A 'PRECEDENT' FOR KARABAKH
news.az
Nov 3 2011
Azerbaijan
Autonomous status will enable Azerbaijani citizens of Armenian origin
in Nagorno-Karabakh to use the full potential of Azerbaijan.
News.Az reprints from 1news.az an interview with political scientist
Rovshan Ibrahimov, head of the International Relations Department and
director of the Centre for Energy Research at Baku's Qavqaz University.
You recently visited Southeast Asia, and got acquainted with some
of the conflicts in the region. Do you think that East Timor can be
regarded as a precedent for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia?
No way. We need to look at the legal basis for the establishment of
an independent state of East Timor.
East Timor was in the list of territories that had the right to
self-determination after decolonization. But the process of creating
this state was rather delayed, which was connected with Portugal's
refusal to decolonize until 1975, and as a result the occupation of
East Timor by Indonesia.
The people of East Timor approached the UN in the 1990s for the right
to self-determination.
With regard to Nagorno-Karabakh, the region has never been a colony
and had no right to self-determination in accordance with the process
of decolonization. At the same time Nagorno-Karabakh was an autonomous
region and had no right to self-determination in accordance with the
Soviet Constitution.
During your visit to East Timor was there a declaration of support
for the separatist regime in Nagorno-Karabakh, as the Armenian side
claims in their reports?
During the meeting with the foreign minister of East Timor, members
of the Armenian delegation asked the following question: "You went
through the process of self-determination. Do you think you could
sympathize with the separatist regime?" In response, the foreign
minister said: "Of course, theoretically we should support political
regimes around the world, but there is also political reality. Today
we are an independent state, and our system operates according to
certain rules that we cannot break."
I do not think that this response indicates their support for the
separatist regime in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Can any country from Southeast Asia be viewed as an example for
solution of the Karabakh conflict?
The resolution of conflicts in Mindanao in the Philippines and
Aceh in Indonesia are positive examples of conflict settlement for
Nagorno-Karabakh.
We can see that in the settlement of these separatist conflicts which
began long before Nagorno-Karabakh, understanding was eventually
reached that the modern international system and law do not allow
separatists to achieve their goals and this led to major compromise.
On the basis of this compromise, autonomy was defined as the status
of the region of Aceh in Indonesia. I find it constructive that the
sides were able to achieve settlement and normalization in this way.
Azerbaijan proposed a similar solution for the Karabakh settlement.
Autonomous status will enable Azerbaijani citizens of Armenian origin
in Nagorno-Karabakh to use the full potential of Azerbaijan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
news.az
Nov 3 2011
Azerbaijan
Autonomous status will enable Azerbaijani citizens of Armenian origin
in Nagorno-Karabakh to use the full potential of Azerbaijan.
News.Az reprints from 1news.az an interview with political scientist
Rovshan Ibrahimov, head of the International Relations Department and
director of the Centre for Energy Research at Baku's Qavqaz University.
You recently visited Southeast Asia, and got acquainted with some
of the conflicts in the region. Do you think that East Timor can be
regarded as a precedent for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia?
No way. We need to look at the legal basis for the establishment of
an independent state of East Timor.
East Timor was in the list of territories that had the right to
self-determination after decolonization. But the process of creating
this state was rather delayed, which was connected with Portugal's
refusal to decolonize until 1975, and as a result the occupation of
East Timor by Indonesia.
The people of East Timor approached the UN in the 1990s for the right
to self-determination.
With regard to Nagorno-Karabakh, the region has never been a colony
and had no right to self-determination in accordance with the process
of decolonization. At the same time Nagorno-Karabakh was an autonomous
region and had no right to self-determination in accordance with the
Soviet Constitution.
During your visit to East Timor was there a declaration of support
for the separatist regime in Nagorno-Karabakh, as the Armenian side
claims in their reports?
During the meeting with the foreign minister of East Timor, members
of the Armenian delegation asked the following question: "You went
through the process of self-determination. Do you think you could
sympathize with the separatist regime?" In response, the foreign
minister said: "Of course, theoretically we should support political
regimes around the world, but there is also political reality. Today
we are an independent state, and our system operates according to
certain rules that we cannot break."
I do not think that this response indicates their support for the
separatist regime in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Can any country from Southeast Asia be viewed as an example for
solution of the Karabakh conflict?
The resolution of conflicts in Mindanao in the Philippines and
Aceh in Indonesia are positive examples of conflict settlement for
Nagorno-Karabakh.
We can see that in the settlement of these separatist conflicts which
began long before Nagorno-Karabakh, understanding was eventually
reached that the modern international system and law do not allow
separatists to achieve their goals and this led to major compromise.
On the basis of this compromise, autonomy was defined as the status
of the region of Aceh in Indonesia. I find it constructive that the
sides were able to achieve settlement and normalization in this way.
Azerbaijan proposed a similar solution for the Karabakh settlement.
Autonomous status will enable Azerbaijani citizens of Armenian origin
in Nagorno-Karabakh to use the full potential of Azerbaijan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress