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INDEPENDENCE AND RECOGNITION: INT'L CONFERENCE IN STEPANAKERT DISCUSSES PROSPECTS OF KARABAKH'S STATEHOOD
By Naira Hayrumyan
ArmeniaNow
20.02.12
Last weekend Stepanakert saw a two-day international conference
entitled "The 20th Anniversary of NKR's Independence: Realities and
Prospects", which was attended by lawmakers and political scientists
from Karabakh and Armenia, representatives of the expert communities
from Russia, Germany, the United Kingdom, Poland, Greece, the
Netherlands. The official delegation at the conference from Armenia was
led by Deputy Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Eduard Sharmazanov.
The main message of the conference was the statement delivered by the
chief editor of the Russian news agency REGNUM, well-known Russian
political consultant Modest Kolerov: "I do not agree that the more an
independent state exists [de facto], the more objective arguments it
has for independence [de jure]. It makes no sense to demand that the
world recognize the independence of Karabakh until Armenia does so."
In response, Sharmazanov said that Armenia's goal is to achieve
an international recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh. "If a unilateral
recognition by Armenia will help in this matter, we will make this
step. But everything has its time."
According to the chairman of the NKR parliamentary commission on
foreign policy affairs Vahram Atanesyan, the modern world does not
suggest an order by which Nagorno-Karabakh can peacefully exist within
Azerbaijan. "The incompatible cannot be combined. The West and the
East are incompatible, and now this boundary passes along the border
between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan," said the Karabakhi lawmaker.
The conference took place against the background of a political
controversy surrounding a recent interview by NKR President Bako
Sahakyan to one of the Greek-language Armenian newspapers. Responding
to a question about the limits of concessions from the Armenian side,
Sahakyan said that the matter did not concern unilateral concessions,
but rather a compromise and that everything would be done without
any damage to the interests of the Armenian side.
This caused a flurry of discussions on online social networking
sites and in the mainstream media. Armenian political analyst Sergey
Shakaryants said that the president of Karabakh should not talk about
possible concessions at all. Chairman of the European Integration of
Artsakh NGO Hayk Khanumyan published an article in which he called
Sahakyan a "driving force behind capitulation".
Chairman of the NKR Public Council for Foreign Policy and Security
Masis Mailyan also believes that neither Armenia nor Nagorno-Karabakh
should be discussing the issue of territories. "The Armenian
sides should not be tricked by official Baku that often refers
to the recognition of the Azerbaijani Republic ostensibly within
'internationally recognized borders'. "Despite the fact that the
Azerbaijani Republic was internationally recognized 20 years ago, it
was only recently that the Azerbaijani-Russian border was determined.
The process of delimitation and demarcation of the Azeri-Georgian
border and the Azerbaijani-Iranian maritime border is still
continuing, and the status of the Caspian Sea itself has not been
defined. And the process of defining the borders between Azerbaijan
and Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan and Armenia have not started at all
in view of the lack of diplomatic relations between the two countries."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
By Naira Hayrumyan
ArmeniaNow
20.02.12
Last weekend Stepanakert saw a two-day international conference
entitled "The 20th Anniversary of NKR's Independence: Realities and
Prospects", which was attended by lawmakers and political scientists
from Karabakh and Armenia, representatives of the expert communities
from Russia, Germany, the United Kingdom, Poland, Greece, the
Netherlands. The official delegation at the conference from Armenia was
led by Deputy Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Eduard Sharmazanov.
The main message of the conference was the statement delivered by the
chief editor of the Russian news agency REGNUM, well-known Russian
political consultant Modest Kolerov: "I do not agree that the more an
independent state exists [de facto], the more objective arguments it
has for independence [de jure]. It makes no sense to demand that the
world recognize the independence of Karabakh until Armenia does so."
In response, Sharmazanov said that Armenia's goal is to achieve
an international recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh. "If a unilateral
recognition by Armenia will help in this matter, we will make this
step. But everything has its time."
According to the chairman of the NKR parliamentary commission on
foreign policy affairs Vahram Atanesyan, the modern world does not
suggest an order by which Nagorno-Karabakh can peacefully exist within
Azerbaijan. "The incompatible cannot be combined. The West and the
East are incompatible, and now this boundary passes along the border
between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan," said the Karabakhi lawmaker.
The conference took place against the background of a political
controversy surrounding a recent interview by NKR President Bako
Sahakyan to one of the Greek-language Armenian newspapers. Responding
to a question about the limits of concessions from the Armenian side,
Sahakyan said that the matter did not concern unilateral concessions,
but rather a compromise and that everything would be done without
any damage to the interests of the Armenian side.
This caused a flurry of discussions on online social networking
sites and in the mainstream media. Armenian political analyst Sergey
Shakaryants said that the president of Karabakh should not talk about
possible concessions at all. Chairman of the European Integration of
Artsakh NGO Hayk Khanumyan published an article in which he called
Sahakyan a "driving force behind capitulation".
Chairman of the NKR Public Council for Foreign Policy and Security
Masis Mailyan also believes that neither Armenia nor Nagorno-Karabakh
should be discussing the issue of territories. "The Armenian
sides should not be tricked by official Baku that often refers
to the recognition of the Azerbaijani Republic ostensibly within
'internationally recognized borders'. "Despite the fact that the
Azerbaijani Republic was internationally recognized 20 years ago, it
was only recently that the Azerbaijani-Russian border was determined.
The process of delimitation and demarcation of the Azeri-Georgian
border and the Azerbaijani-Iranian maritime border is still
continuing, and the status of the Caspian Sea itself has not been
defined. And the process of defining the borders between Azerbaijan
and Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan and Armenia have not started at all
in view of the lack of diplomatic relations between the two countries."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress