OF THE 29-30.03.2005 PARLIAMENTARY HEARINGS ON THE THEME
“THE NAGORNO KARABAKH PROBLEM: MEANS OF SETTLEMENT”
A conceptual approach should be maintained to resolve the Nagorno Karabakh problem and settle the conflict in full with the security requirements and interests of Armenia and Karabakh, as well as the whole Armenian people.
The main elements of that approach should distinctly present the principle, which forms the basis of the concept, the result which indicates its goal, and the tactics appropriate to that principle and goal.
A. The Principle
The basis for the resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh problem and the settlement of the conflict should be the unconditional and unrestricted application of the principle of the right of self-determination of the people of Nagorno Karabakh.
Such application of the right of self-determination is asserted and ensured by the following facts:
1. The self-determination component: The people of Nagorno Karabakh have exercised their right of self-determination in a legitimate manner, in full compliance with the international standards and existing laws of that time.
2. The territorial component: The people of Nagorno Karabakh have exercised their right of self-determination on their own territories, which have never been under the jurisdiction of independent Azerbaijan.
3. The human rights component: Committing violence against the people considered being its own citizens, Azerbaijan may not undertake a trusteeship mission towards the same people.
4. De facto existing political reality: In Nagorno Karabakh all necessary attributes of a democratic statehood are present, namely: development of civil society; separation of the three main branches of powers and the use of mechanisms of checks and balances in their relations; establishment of the institute of equal and free elections held regularly and at all levels of power; formation of human rights protection institutions, as well as capability of improving the state bodies, administering effective state management, developing international relations and protecting its borders.
The principle of applicability of the right of self-determination has no alternative, which is substantiated by the following factors proving the impossibility of using the principle of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan including Nagorno Karabakh:
A) The principle of territorial integrity cannot be applied to a territory that has never belonged to the independent Azerbaijani state:
B) The present Republic of Azerbaijan lacks the powers of the former Azerbaijani SSR in regards to Nagorno Karabakh, which was conditioned exclusively by the formation and existence of the USSR. First, because, during the period that the legislation was applicable two independent and legally equal states were created on the territory of the Azerbaijani SSR, i.e. the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh and the Republic of Azerbaijan, and the administrative-political subordination of the people, the territory and the authorities of NKR, both to the subsequently dissolved Azerbaijani SSR and the USSR were eliminated in a legal manner. Second, Azerbaijan itself, first with the declaration on the restoration of its independence, and then with the constitutional act on state independence declared its statehood within the borders of 1918, thus, invalidating the annexation of Nagorno Karabakh during the Soviet period.
C) Azerbaijan cannot have the right to subordinate the people of Nagorno Karabakh due to its incapability to respect human rights and the rights of national minorities, to ensure inter-ethnic solidarity, to carry out efficient governance based on democratic management.
In particular, during the last decades, through the policy of ethnic cleansing, the Autonomous Republic of Nakhijevan has lost its many thousands of Armenians. With the permission of the Soviet authorities the initial territory of the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Region was decreased and reduced. In response to the civilized and legal demands of the people of Nagorno Karabakh, the Sumgait crime and other massacres were organized in different settlements of Azerbaijan, the autonomous formation was dissolved and a large-scale war was unleashed against the people of Karabakh.
B. The Goal
The result of the resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh problem and the conflict settlement should be the full implementation of the right of self-determination of the people of Nagorno Karabakh. It can take place at two levels: either the international community should respect the right of self-determination of the people of Nagorno Karabakh, or a comprehensive peace agreement should be signed based on the respect of the right of free self-determination and including clear resolutions to the status of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, as well as necessary and sufficient guarantees for its security, to the issues of refugees and territories. It must also assert the status of Armenia as the guarantor of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic’s security and independence.
However, this approach can in no way result in the prescription of the highest degree of autonomy within Azerbaijan, as autonomy is based on the principle of securing the rights of national minorities in the territory of a metropolitan country. Meanwhile, the Republic of Azerbaijan has never been a metropolitan country for the people of Nagorno Karabakh, therefore, the Armenians of Karabakh cannot be considered as “minority” in their own territory.
C. The Tactics
The tactics for the resolution of the problem and the settlement of the conflict should, on the one hand, be based on the stipulated principles and substantiate them, and on the other hand, maintain the infrangibility of the indicated goal and ensure its implementation.
At any stage of the conflict the tactics of the Armenian side should be carried out by respecting the norms of international law and standard rules and ensure adequate reaction to the opposite tactics of the Azerbaijani side.
The priority of resolving the status issue of Nagorno Karabakh and ensuring its security guarantees on the basis of respecting the right of self-determination must be the leading idea of the tactics.
The status issue has been and continues to be the major issue of the conflict, its very object. The status should precisely and fully express the historical, legal and political realities of the problem and take into account also the character and quality of the existing relations between the conflicting parties. Therefore, the effectiveness of the peace process directly depends on the just resolution of this issue.
The problems connected with the status and security guarantees are interconditioned, and that link is a direct one. In the overall balance of security assurances, both de facto guarantees ensuring security, and de jure guarantees provided by the international standards and stipulated by the affirmation of the relevant status are of great importance. One guarantee without the other cannot fully ensure the necessary security. The total volume of those guarantees should fully correspond with the external danger and should be the most important factor in preventing the start of a new war.
In order to ensure that minimum volume it is necessary to consistently protect the following principles in the negotiation process:
· Exclusion of the Nagorno Karabakh subordination to Azerbaijan;
· Exclusion of the Nagorno Karabakh’s enclave situation and ensuring its safe and secure land border with Armenia;
· Guaranteeing the security of the Nagorno Karabakh people;
· Ensuring international guarantees for the participation of Nagorno Karabakh in the world progressive processes;
· Ensuring an equivalent compensation for the material and moral damages, including the loss of the Motherland, that the Armenians of Azerbaijan have endured.
1. The Necessary Arguments for Orienting the Conflict Settlement Process
· The Karabakh conflict is an ethnic-political conflict. It cannot be fully settled without the solution of the status issue. A settlement taking into account this circumstance is also capable of resulting in the resolution of the problem, irrespective of the way of its implementation.
· The components of the conflict subject to settlement are inter-related, form a complete package, and the resolution of one component is conditioned by another. A package agreement is required because of the inter-dependence of the components of the conflict and in order to ensure the full effectiveness of the security guarantees.
· The establishment of the Armenian control over the territories now constituting the NKR security zone is the consequence of repulsing the armed aggression of Azerbaijan unleashed against the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, which was created in a legal manner, and the legitimate self-defense organized by the people of Nagorno Karabakh (according to Article 51 of UN Charter), in order to prevent similar aggressive actions in the future.
However, Azerbaijan is seeking, through imposing on the other side the responsibility for the consequences of the war which itself unleashed, to gain exclusive rights to claim the territories and predetermine the resolution of the refugees’ problem.
The problem of the territories and refugees is an inseparable part of the whole package and is connected with the interests of all parties to the conflict and is within the scope of mutual demands.
· Violating the right of self-determination of the people of Nagorno Karabakh has resulted in violating of the fundamental rights and freedoms of the people residing in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. Moreover, presently, the rights of the people are out of protection by the international community and continue to be violated merely because these people live in an internationally unrecognized state.
The non-recognition of a state cannot be an excuse in any way for the violations of those vital rights and freedoms.
· The sustainable, progressive development of the NKR towards a democratic, legal, modern state based on the international standards of respecting human rights and freedoms is of key importance for the international recognition of NKR.
· Conflicts differ by their specific peculiarities, so they need to be distinguished during their settlement. No common key for the resolution of all conflicts can be found. Perceiving the conflicts as identical artificially increases the importance of the political and public relations components, forces an accommodation to a resolution inadequate to the content and essence of a given conflict, makes the resolution of the concrete conflict dependant upon the resolution of the other still unresolved conflicts, thus, more complicating the settlement of the given conflict.
· The formation and enlargement of a scope of common interests for the parties of the conflict is the most important impetus for the settlement of the Karabakh conflict. The best way to achieve this is through encouragement and implementation of regional cooperation.
The processes for the conflict settlement and establishing regional cooperation should be carried out parallel to each other. The Azerbaijani position of “No cooperation before the resolution of the conflict” not only does not promote the formation of an atmosphere of mutual trust between the parties, but also, in fact, preserves the animosity and the danger of a new war.
2. The Factors Boosting the Efficiency of Negotiating Process
· The settlement of the conflict has only one safe and acceptable route: that is the efficient realization of peaceful negotiations in full compliance with international standards leading to the resolution of the problem. Any other route would lead the negotiation process either to a deadlock, by postponing the conflict settlement for an indefinite time, or to a new war.
· To ensure the fullness and efficiency of the negotiations, all parties should, first of all, recognize each other as negotiating parties and accordingly, the full participation of all of them in the negotiating process should be ensured.
· Ensuring the full participation of Nagorno Karabakh as an equal negotiating party is an inevitable condition for effective and full-scale negotiations.
In fact, by not recognizing Nagorno Karabakh as a party by Azerbaijan, means to resign from the resolution of the problem, as well as from real negotiations, as only an illusion of a negotiating process is created.
It is absolutely obvious that it is the inalienable and exclusive right of the people of Nagorno Karabakh, through their legitimate representatives in the negotiation process, to reach an agreement especially on the status issue and the necessary volume for security guarantees
· It is all-important to carry out the negotiating process maintaining the real place and role of each party in the conflict.
It is necessary to distinctly define that:
A) Nagorno Karabakh is the main and separate party to the conflict.
B) Because of lasting aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan on Armenia and on the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, Armenia has been involved as a party in the Karabakh-Azerbaijani conflict and has become the guarantor for exercising the right to self-determination of the people of Nagorno Karabakh.
Due to the fact that the Nagorno Karabakh Republic has not yet been recognized by the international community, in different instances Armenia represents and defends its interests, but cannot completely replace it.
Thus, the respect of the right to self-determination of the people of Nagorno Karabakh and the acceptance of the fact of Armenia being the guarantor for the full exercise of that right will give real opportunities to pursue real effective negotiations resulting in the settlement of the conflict.
