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ROBERT AVETISYAN: KARABAKH DESERVES REUNION WITH ARMENIA
http://www.armradio.am/en/2013/03/19/robert-avetisyan-karabakh-deserves-reunion-with-armenia/
19:09 19.03.2013
Fresno Bee publishes Op/Ed from Nagorno Karabakh's Ambassador Robert
Avetisyan:
"Feb. 20, 1988 was the day when Soviet authorities in Moscow saw the
first real signs of what was soon to become the first truly democratic
movement in the Soviet Empire.
A full quarter of a century ago, the Council of People's Deputies,
the legislative body for Nagorno Karabakh, sent a formal appeal to
the authorities in Soviet Azerbaijan and Armenia and to Moscow as
well, to reunite Artsakh (as Nagorno Karabakh is known in Armenian)
with Armenia.
In making this request, they sought to reverse the arbitrary 1921
decision by dictator Joseph Stalin to carve Artsakh out of Armenia
and place it under the administration of the newly created Soviet
Azerbaijan Republic.
The citizens of Karabakh had never accepted Stalin's actions and
when the Soviet system began opening up in the late 1980s, under
Gorbachev's Perestroyka and Glasnost, they moved quickly to realize
their long-held democratic aspirations.
When the 180,000 people of the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast
(or NKAO) raised their voice for freedom, the Communist leadership in
Moscow and Baku pushed back hard, but could not suppress the legitimate
right of the people of this land to freedom and self-determination.
Moscow sought to ignore these democratic appeals and deployed troops
to instill fear and crack down on Artsakh. Baku's response was even
worse: During Feb. 26-28, 1988, hundreds of Armenians were subjected to
torture and murdered simply for being Armenian. Organized mobs armed
with knives and sharpened rods attacked apartments that belonged to
Armenian families and conducted targeted atrocities with the full
support of law-enforcement authorities in the large industrial city
of Sumgait.
Seeing no condemnation, Soviet Azerbaijani authorities spread their
attacks into cities that included Azerbaijan's capital of Baku,
Kirovabad. These attacks, too, claimed the lives of innocent people
whose only "crime" was being Armenian.
By end of 1991, the people of Artsakh, having endured violence and
aggression, acted under existing laws, to declare the formation of
the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR). Azerbaijan's reaction was as
predictable as it was aggressive. Emboldened by the impunity of their
previous attacks, they launched a full-scale military attack against
the newly-formed NKR, threatening the existence of local Armenians,
Russians, Greeks, Azerbaijanis, Jews and others. The war lasted
until 1994, when Azerbaijan relented and signed a cease-fire with
Nagorno Karabakh Republic and Armenia. Over the course of this war,
Azerbaijani attacks ruined almost the entire social and economic
infrastructure of Artsakh, killing and maiming tens of thousands and
causing large flows of refugees on both sides.
Since the 1994 cease-fire, Artsakh has developed a fully-functioning
democracy with an effective government, fledging market economy,
vibrant civil society and capable armed forces. The process of
democratic development is irreversible, as illustrated by the series
of parliamentary and presidential elections that have been described
as free and fair by international observers. Freedom House, the
human-rights watchdog, has rated Nagorno Karabakh as a partly free
nation, marking the country's democratic advantage over many of its
regional neighbors, particularly totalitarian Azerbaijan.
While there is still much to do to solve the consequences of
Azerbaijan's devastating aggression, and despite all existing regional
challenges, the Karabakh government is determined to strive toward a
safer, stronger and more prosperous republic for its people. Artsakh
is a viable state - ready and capable to assume its international
responsibilities. The people of Artsakh deserve the same rights and
freedoms as everyone else. The world community should welcome our new
democracy into the family of nations by recognizing the independence
of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic."
From: Baghdasarian
http://www.armradio.am/en/2013/03/19/robert-avetisyan-karabakh-deserves-reunion-with-armenia/
19:09 19.03.2013
Fresno Bee publishes Op/Ed from Nagorno Karabakh's Ambassador Robert
Avetisyan:
"Feb. 20, 1988 was the day when Soviet authorities in Moscow saw the
first real signs of what was soon to become the first truly democratic
movement in the Soviet Empire.
A full quarter of a century ago, the Council of People's Deputies,
the legislative body for Nagorno Karabakh, sent a formal appeal to
the authorities in Soviet Azerbaijan and Armenia and to Moscow as
well, to reunite Artsakh (as Nagorno Karabakh is known in Armenian)
with Armenia.
In making this request, they sought to reverse the arbitrary 1921
decision by dictator Joseph Stalin to carve Artsakh out of Armenia
and place it under the administration of the newly created Soviet
Azerbaijan Republic.
The citizens of Karabakh had never accepted Stalin's actions and
when the Soviet system began opening up in the late 1980s, under
Gorbachev's Perestroyka and Glasnost, they moved quickly to realize
their long-held democratic aspirations.
When the 180,000 people of the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast
(or NKAO) raised their voice for freedom, the Communist leadership in
Moscow and Baku pushed back hard, but could not suppress the legitimate
right of the people of this land to freedom and self-determination.
Moscow sought to ignore these democratic appeals and deployed troops
to instill fear and crack down on Artsakh. Baku's response was even
worse: During Feb. 26-28, 1988, hundreds of Armenians were subjected to
torture and murdered simply for being Armenian. Organized mobs armed
with knives and sharpened rods attacked apartments that belonged to
Armenian families and conducted targeted atrocities with the full
support of law-enforcement authorities in the large industrial city
of Sumgait.
Seeing no condemnation, Soviet Azerbaijani authorities spread their
attacks into cities that included Azerbaijan's capital of Baku,
Kirovabad. These attacks, too, claimed the lives of innocent people
whose only "crime" was being Armenian.
By end of 1991, the people of Artsakh, having endured violence and
aggression, acted under existing laws, to declare the formation of
the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR). Azerbaijan's reaction was as
predictable as it was aggressive. Emboldened by the impunity of their
previous attacks, they launched a full-scale military attack against
the newly-formed NKR, threatening the existence of local Armenians,
Russians, Greeks, Azerbaijanis, Jews and others. The war lasted
until 1994, when Azerbaijan relented and signed a cease-fire with
Nagorno Karabakh Republic and Armenia. Over the course of this war,
Azerbaijani attacks ruined almost the entire social and economic
infrastructure of Artsakh, killing and maiming tens of thousands and
causing large flows of refugees on both sides.
Since the 1994 cease-fire, Artsakh has developed a fully-functioning
democracy with an effective government, fledging market economy,
vibrant civil society and capable armed forces. The process of
democratic development is irreversible, as illustrated by the series
of parliamentary and presidential elections that have been described
as free and fair by international observers. Freedom House, the
human-rights watchdog, has rated Nagorno Karabakh as a partly free
nation, marking the country's democratic advantage over many of its
regional neighbors, particularly totalitarian Azerbaijan.
While there is still much to do to solve the consequences of
Azerbaijan's devastating aggression, and despite all existing regional
challenges, the Karabakh government is determined to strive toward a
safer, stronger and more prosperous republic for its people. Artsakh
is a viable state - ready and capable to assume its international
responsibilities. The people of Artsakh deserve the same rights and
freedoms as everyone else. The world community should welcome our new
democracy into the family of nations by recognizing the independence
of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic."
From: Baghdasarian