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AMBASSADOR GAREN NAZARIAN ADDRESS TO UN SECRETARY GENERAL
Panorama.am
16/05/2012
Permanent Representative of the Republic of Armenia to the United
Nations Ambassador Garen Nazarian addressed to the Secretary-General.
The letter reads:
"I would like to refer you to the letter from the Permanent
Representative of Azerbaijan regarding the forthcoming presidential
elections in Nagorno Karabakh scheduled to be held on 19 July 2012.
It is extremely disappointing to see the reaction of Azerbaijan to the
exercise of the fundamental and inalienable right of free elections by
the people of Nagorno Karabakh. The fundamental human rights of all
nations, including the right to vote and the right to participate in
government, are endorsed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
of 10 December 1948. In particular, article 2 of the Declaration
stipulates that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms
without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language,
religion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the
political, jurisdictional or international status of the country
or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent,
trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
A nationwide election is an objective indicator of the degree of
democratic development, which fully reflects the political will of the
people. The upcoming presidential elections in Nagorno Karabakh are
another opportunity to prove the commitment of the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic to democratic principles and to the value it places on
people's participation in government and on fostering democracy.
In the last 20 years, four presidential, five parliamentary and five
local government elections were held in Nagorno Karabakh in compliance
with democratic standards and on the basis of an alternative choice, as
witnessed by the numerous election observation reports of independent
international observers.
Furthermore, the inalienable right of the Nagorno Karabakh people to
determine their own destiny is one of the main guiding principles of
the proposals submitted at the ministerial conference in Madrid by
the Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe towards the peaceful settlement of the conflict.
The international community, including Azerbaijan, must be more than
interested to deal with the leadership elected by people of Nagorno
Karabakh. This was also witnessed by the first Additional Meeting
of the Council of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in
Europe held in Helsinki on 24 March 1992, which decided to invite
the legitimate authorities of Nagorno Karabakh to the Conference.
The attempts by Azerbaijan to deprive the people of Nagorno Karabakh
of the right to democratic development and the promotion of civil
society are counterproductive and condemned to failure. In this regard,
the criticism of human rights and democratic processes by a country
that is distinguished mostly by the absence of such processes causes
serious concerns.
Lastly, I call upon the representatives of Azerbaijan to refrain from
the practice of spreading groundless allegations in the framework
of the United Nations and other international organizations and
work instead towards a political settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict.
I should be grateful if you would have the present letter circulated
as a document of the General Assembly, under agenda items 35, 39,
67 and 83, and of the Security Council.
Panorama.am
16/05/2012
Permanent Representative of the Republic of Armenia to the United
Nations Ambassador Garen Nazarian addressed to the Secretary-General.
The letter reads:
"I would like to refer you to the letter from the Permanent
Representative of Azerbaijan regarding the forthcoming presidential
elections in Nagorno Karabakh scheduled to be held on 19 July 2012.
It is extremely disappointing to see the reaction of Azerbaijan to the
exercise of the fundamental and inalienable right of free elections by
the people of Nagorno Karabakh. The fundamental human rights of all
nations, including the right to vote and the right to participate in
government, are endorsed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
of 10 December 1948. In particular, article 2 of the Declaration
stipulates that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms
without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language,
religion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the
political, jurisdictional or international status of the country
or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent,
trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
A nationwide election is an objective indicator of the degree of
democratic development, which fully reflects the political will of the
people. The upcoming presidential elections in Nagorno Karabakh are
another opportunity to prove the commitment of the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic to democratic principles and to the value it places on
people's participation in government and on fostering democracy.
In the last 20 years, four presidential, five parliamentary and five
local government elections were held in Nagorno Karabakh in compliance
with democratic standards and on the basis of an alternative choice, as
witnessed by the numerous election observation reports of independent
international observers.
Furthermore, the inalienable right of the Nagorno Karabakh people to
determine their own destiny is one of the main guiding principles of
the proposals submitted at the ministerial conference in Madrid by
the Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe towards the peaceful settlement of the conflict.
The international community, including Azerbaijan, must be more than
interested to deal with the leadership elected by people of Nagorno
Karabakh. This was also witnessed by the first Additional Meeting
of the Council of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in
Europe held in Helsinki on 24 March 1992, which decided to invite
the legitimate authorities of Nagorno Karabakh to the Conference.
The attempts by Azerbaijan to deprive the people of Nagorno Karabakh
of the right to democratic development and the promotion of civil
society are counterproductive and condemned to failure. In this regard,
the criticism of human rights and democratic processes by a country
that is distinguished mostly by the absence of such processes causes
serious concerns.
Lastly, I call upon the representatives of Azerbaijan to refrain from
the practice of spreading groundless allegations in the framework
of the United Nations and other international organizations and
work instead towards a political settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict.
I should be grateful if you would have the present letter circulated
as a document of the General Assembly, under agenda items 35, 39,
67 and 83, and of the Security Council.