Aravot.am’s interlocutor is Nelly Baghdasaryan, assistant to the President for international relations
Official Yerevan, especially in recent days, has been increasingly calling for recognition of Artsakh. We have heard many objections that Armenia itself does not recognize Artsakh, but calls on other countries to do so, so these calls are not taken seriously. In this context, in your opinion, how correct is it to start the recognition process in Yerevan? And second: will the process of international recognition of Artsakh become a mechanism for deterring the Azerbaijan-Turkey terrorist tandem?
– The issue of international recognition of Artsakh has never been outside the foreign policy agenda of Armenia. This issue was repeatedly raised at the level of the draft law, but was postponed on the grounds that the negotiation process should not reach an impasse and that the activities of the OSCE Minsk group should not be disrupted. And the issue of international recognition of Artsakh is in the system of military diplomacy and military-political measures aimed at deterring the enemy. In fact, this policy of deterrence has been applied by the Armenian side with varying degrees of effectiveness since 1994, after the establishment of an indefinite ceasefire in May, due to the policy of one of the conflicting parties – the military rhetoric of Azerbaijan – to dictate the arms race.
Arguments about the international recognition of Artsakh have also been heard with greater force in international circles, while, of course, from Pro-Armenian figures. What are the grounds and expectations, based on the fact that the conflict has taken on such a scale, since it can be noted that there are already first signs?
Read also
Today, both the Republic of Artsakh and the Republic of Armenia, which acts as a guarantor of its security, appeal to the international community to initiate processes for the international recognition of Artsakh. We already have the first international responses.
On October 8, the Geneva city Council adopted resolution R-271 “On the Right of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh to Life and Self-determination”, which condemned Azerbaijan’s attack on Armenia and Artsakh and recognized the right of the people of Artsakh to self-determination as the sole guarantor of security. The decision of the Basque Parliament on the right of the Artsakh people to self-determination and the denial of violence is also considered in the same context. Today, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia announced the expectation of recognition of Artsakh by France. He stated this in today’s conversation with the French President. We consider important the announcement of US House of Representatives member Adam Schiff: America must convey to Turkey and Azerbaijan that if they continue to use violence, which will lead to the continuation of the conflict, we will be ready to recognize the independence of Artsakh and will work with the international community in order to achieve this. Thus, there is a political recognition process, and the Republic of Artsakh expects it to continue with greater intensity.
The urgent issue of recognizing the independence of Artsakh becomes even more important against the background of the ongoing fighting and against the background of the fact that when today, October 9, the ceasefire talks are held in Moscow at the level of foreign Ministers, Aliyev still uses old theses in his address to the people of Azerbaijan, including the permanent “Karabakh is Azerbaijan”.
-In your opinion, how much is Artsakh recognized in world circles?
Over the years, Artsakh has made many efforts to recognize the right to self-determination, first of all, proving its existence as a democratic state governed by the rule of law. In addition to These significant efforts were supplemented by Artsakh’s opposition to the war unleashed by Azerbaijan and the key role of Artsakh in the fight against the Azerbaijan-Turkey terrorist coalition and international terrorism in general. As a result, recognition of Artsakh by the international community also means a guarantee of its security. The Republic of Artsakh, having the characteristics of an independent state, is indirectly perceived by a number of world countries as an independent state. There are also examples of recognition of Artsakh by individual cities and States. A new round of recognition of Artsakh took place during the April war and after it. And now, as already noted, there is such a process, and in fact the advanced world community condemns the actions of Azerbaijan and calls for recognizing the independence of the Republic of Artsakh. Now is the time to move from support to concrete action. We believe that anti-Turkish States should play an important role here. International recognition of Artsakh can play a key role in deterring the actions of the Azerbaijan-Turkey terrorist tandem.