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URUGUAY PASSES. FOREIGN MINISTER LUIS ALMAGRO ADVOCATES RECOGNIZING NAGORNO-KARABAKH'S INDEPENDENCE
by Yuriy Roks
Nezavisimaya Gazeta
Sept 12 2011
Russia
Uruguay may recognize the independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic. Luis Almagro, the country's foreign minister, declared this 9
September at a conference in parliament devoted to Armenian-Uruguayan
relations. Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev
told journalists that the republic's embassy in Argentina is trying to
ascertain the circumstances in which this statement can have been made.
According to Baku's information, a Uruguayan Foreign Ministry
spokesman assured embassy employees in Argentina that Montevideo
supports Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and the OSCE's activity
in settling the conflict. The Azerbaijani side also expressed the
opinion that the rumours about Uruguay recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh's
independence may be an element of Armenia's disinformation policy.
However, Mario Nalbandian, cochairman of the CIS countries' Socialist
International Committee (Argentina), who attended the conference
in Montevideo, confirmed that Luis Almagro spoke about recognizing
Karabakh. According to him, the Uruguayan foreign minister declared
literally the following: "Nagorno-Karabakh must be independent and,
in the course of time, be joined to Armenia. This is the only way
to resolve the issue." Nalbandian also reported that Luis Almagro
said that Karabakh is a historical part of Armenia and that Uruguay
will examine at state level the question of an agreement with the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic to recognize the republic.
Armenian media were provided with the same information from Montevideo
by Vaan Ovanesyan, deputy of the Armenian parliament and head of the
Dashnaktsutyun Armenian Revolutionary Federation faction, who called
the statement unprecedented. It was made in the presence of the
country's vice president, the chairman of parliament, and deputies,
Ovanesyan reported. At the same time he remarked that the statement
"is the result of many years' work, which will be continued to ensure
that the decision is adopted at state level."
Relations between Uruguay and Armenia, despite the distance and the
apparent lack of anything in common, are unique. Uruguay was the first
country in the world to recognize the genocide against Armenians in
Ottoman Turkey. Afterward its example was followed by other countries.
Despite its modest size and relatively small population, Uruguay
(particularly in the first half of the 20th century) played an
appreciable role on the political map of the world. Important
conferences were held there, and multilateral agreements were
adopted (for example, the Montevideo Convention -an international
document defining a state's legal personality from the viewpoint of
international public law -Nezavisimaya Gazeta), and Uruguay itself was
very active on the international arena. With time the significance
of this state on a world scale gradually began to diminish, and it
found itself in the shadow of its larger neighbours and under the
strong influence of the United States. However, when Jose Mujica, a
representative of the left-wing forces, became president, Uruguay's
desire to pursue a more independent and striking policy became
apparent. Maybe the foreign minister's statement about the need to
recognize the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is connected not only with
the effective activity of Uruguay's influential Armenian community
or Montevideo's desire to open a new page of history for Armenia for
a second time but also with this state's political ambitions.
Luis Almagro's statement could not go unnoticed in the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. David Babayan, chief of the Main Information
Administration in the Nagorno-Karabakh president's apparatus, told
Nezavisimaya Gazeta: "We welcome Uruguay's intention to recognize our
sovereignty... Almagro's words do not signify automatic recognition of
independence but mean that the international community is serious about
the process of recognizing the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, because the
stage of recognizing new states, which began with Kosovo and continued
with recognition of South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and South Sudan, cannot
bypass Karabakh." In Babayan's opinion, there may be two consequences
of recognizing the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic's sovereignty: Azerbaijan
and Turkey will begin a hysterical policy with regard to Uruguay;
the world community, particularly South American states, will take a
more serious approach to the problem of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.
At this stage the Armenian Foreign Ministry has not commented on what
is happening in Montevideo. "Mr Almagro's statement cannot fail to
inspire optimism, but a comment by the Armenian Foreign Ministry may
follow later," an official spokesman for the ministry told Nezavisimaya
Gazeta. Other Armenian power structures are also keeping quiet. This
stance has been criticized by the opposition. Stepan Safaryan, head
of the Heritage parliamentary faction, said that "Yerevan attaches
greater importance to suggestions by OSCE Minsk Group member countries
than to such historic opportunities."
Berlin political analyst Ashot Manucharyan believes that Almagro's
statement may move to a practical plane because this country,
like other prominent Latin American countries, "is not dependent
on relations with Turkey and is not a NATO member, and there is no
strong Turkish community on the continent." "The influence of Islamic
diasporas here is almost zero. On the other hand, from the end of
the 19th century Armenian refugees from the Ottoman Empire became
an important part of the political, cultural, and intellectual
establishment of Latin America. The communities are very active,
particularly in Argentina and Uruguay, and this activeness expresses
itself in the fact that it was from here that international recognition
of genocide began, and these countries were the first to recognize
Armenia's independence and have now started speaking about the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic's sovereignty," Doctor Manucharyan said.
At the same time the political analyst did not rule out the possibility
that Ankara and Baku "will start bargaining with Montevideo" -that
is, Uruguay confines itself just to this statement, while Turkey
and Azerbaijan or their allies, primarily the United States, offer
some preferences in return. "Such political trading is a normal
phenomenon. In any case the continuation of history depends on
what Uruguay, which has made an interesting move, really wants,"
Manucharyan told Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
Washington has not yet revealed its position. Keith Bean, press
secretary at the US Embassy in Azerbaijan, said that the statement
(Almagro's statement -Nezavisimaya Gazeta) is within the direct
sphere of Baku and Montevideo: "We do not comment on other countries'
bilateral relations."
From: A. Papazian
by Yuriy Roks
Nezavisimaya Gazeta
Sept 12 2011
Russia
Uruguay may recognize the independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic. Luis Almagro, the country's foreign minister, declared this 9
September at a conference in parliament devoted to Armenian-Uruguayan
relations. Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev
told journalists that the republic's embassy in Argentina is trying to
ascertain the circumstances in which this statement can have been made.
According to Baku's information, a Uruguayan Foreign Ministry
spokesman assured embassy employees in Argentina that Montevideo
supports Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and the OSCE's activity
in settling the conflict. The Azerbaijani side also expressed the
opinion that the rumours about Uruguay recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh's
independence may be an element of Armenia's disinformation policy.
However, Mario Nalbandian, cochairman of the CIS countries' Socialist
International Committee (Argentina), who attended the conference
in Montevideo, confirmed that Luis Almagro spoke about recognizing
Karabakh. According to him, the Uruguayan foreign minister declared
literally the following: "Nagorno-Karabakh must be independent and,
in the course of time, be joined to Armenia. This is the only way
to resolve the issue." Nalbandian also reported that Luis Almagro
said that Karabakh is a historical part of Armenia and that Uruguay
will examine at state level the question of an agreement with the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic to recognize the republic.
Armenian media were provided with the same information from Montevideo
by Vaan Ovanesyan, deputy of the Armenian parliament and head of the
Dashnaktsutyun Armenian Revolutionary Federation faction, who called
the statement unprecedented. It was made in the presence of the
country's vice president, the chairman of parliament, and deputies,
Ovanesyan reported. At the same time he remarked that the statement
"is the result of many years' work, which will be continued to ensure
that the decision is adopted at state level."
Relations between Uruguay and Armenia, despite the distance and the
apparent lack of anything in common, are unique. Uruguay was the first
country in the world to recognize the genocide against Armenians in
Ottoman Turkey. Afterward its example was followed by other countries.
Despite its modest size and relatively small population, Uruguay
(particularly in the first half of the 20th century) played an
appreciable role on the political map of the world. Important
conferences were held there, and multilateral agreements were
adopted (for example, the Montevideo Convention -an international
document defining a state's legal personality from the viewpoint of
international public law -Nezavisimaya Gazeta), and Uruguay itself was
very active on the international arena. With time the significance
of this state on a world scale gradually began to diminish, and it
found itself in the shadow of its larger neighbours and under the
strong influence of the United States. However, when Jose Mujica, a
representative of the left-wing forces, became president, Uruguay's
desire to pursue a more independent and striking policy became
apparent. Maybe the foreign minister's statement about the need to
recognize the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is connected not only with
the effective activity of Uruguay's influential Armenian community
or Montevideo's desire to open a new page of history for Armenia for
a second time but also with this state's political ambitions.
Luis Almagro's statement could not go unnoticed in the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. David Babayan, chief of the Main Information
Administration in the Nagorno-Karabakh president's apparatus, told
Nezavisimaya Gazeta: "We welcome Uruguay's intention to recognize our
sovereignty... Almagro's words do not signify automatic recognition of
independence but mean that the international community is serious about
the process of recognizing the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, because the
stage of recognizing new states, which began with Kosovo and continued
with recognition of South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and South Sudan, cannot
bypass Karabakh." In Babayan's opinion, there may be two consequences
of recognizing the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic's sovereignty: Azerbaijan
and Turkey will begin a hysterical policy with regard to Uruguay;
the world community, particularly South American states, will take a
more serious approach to the problem of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.
At this stage the Armenian Foreign Ministry has not commented on what
is happening in Montevideo. "Mr Almagro's statement cannot fail to
inspire optimism, but a comment by the Armenian Foreign Ministry may
follow later," an official spokesman for the ministry told Nezavisimaya
Gazeta. Other Armenian power structures are also keeping quiet. This
stance has been criticized by the opposition. Stepan Safaryan, head
of the Heritage parliamentary faction, said that "Yerevan attaches
greater importance to suggestions by OSCE Minsk Group member countries
than to such historic opportunities."
Berlin political analyst Ashot Manucharyan believes that Almagro's
statement may move to a practical plane because this country,
like other prominent Latin American countries, "is not dependent
on relations with Turkey and is not a NATO member, and there is no
strong Turkish community on the continent." "The influence of Islamic
diasporas here is almost zero. On the other hand, from the end of
the 19th century Armenian refugees from the Ottoman Empire became
an important part of the political, cultural, and intellectual
establishment of Latin America. The communities are very active,
particularly in Argentina and Uruguay, and this activeness expresses
itself in the fact that it was from here that international recognition
of genocide began, and these countries were the first to recognize
Armenia's independence and have now started speaking about the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic's sovereignty," Doctor Manucharyan said.
At the same time the political analyst did not rule out the possibility
that Ankara and Baku "will start bargaining with Montevideo" -that
is, Uruguay confines itself just to this statement, while Turkey
and Azerbaijan or their allies, primarily the United States, offer
some preferences in return. "Such political trading is a normal
phenomenon. In any case the continuation of history depends on
what Uruguay, which has made an interesting move, really wants,"
Manucharyan told Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
Washington has not yet revealed its position. Keith Bean, press
secretary at the US Embassy in Azerbaijan, said that the statement
(Almagro's statement -Nezavisimaya Gazeta) is within the direct
sphere of Baku and Montevideo: "We do not comment on other countries'
bilateral relations."
From: A. Papazian