“Aravot” interlocutor, human rights activist, and the former Human Rights Defender Larisa Alaverdyan says. “There is no legal basis for handing over Artsakh; it is purely political arbitrariness, which is worse than the decision of the Caucasian Bureau”.
– Pashinyan, citing various documents, tries to justify that Artsakh should be part of Azerbaijan. What are the legal grounds for this?
– What the citizen Nikol Pashinyan says is utterly inconsistent with the historical and legal grounds, but it is simply a perverted and modified version presented by the Azerbaijani side. Let’s look at the question of what are the “grounds” for leaving Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan. Such foundations exist only and only in the changed history of Azerbaijan. Legal grounds do not exist in the way that Azerbaijan and that person represent. Why? The question arose as such in 1918, in the background of the so-called democratic republic of Azerbaijan, newly born in the history of humanity, which was created thanks to the intervention of Turkey. It is specified by all the documents of that time that the republic called Azerbaijan immediately presented territorial ambitions to all its neighbors. Among them were Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and even Turkey.
For this reason, the League of Nations did not recognize the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, noting that having appeared for the first time on the territories that belonged to different empires, Azerbaijan has claims on the territories stretching from Baku to Batumi. It was on December 5, 1921․ And, a few days later, the same League of Nations recognized Armenia’s title to more than 70,000 square kilometers of territory, including the territories that the League initially called disputed territories. It is Nagorno-Karabakh, Zangezur, and Nakhichevan. After that, in 1921, on June 12, when the Sovietization of the region had already taken place, before the Bureau decisions, at the insistence of Soviet Russia, Armenia recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as its inalienable part because Soviet Azerbaijan abandoned all its aspirations. And Armenia has decided to unite its historical territories into one state structure.
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Russia and Azerbaijan recognized Armenia along with those territories. It is a different matter that less than a month later, due to the deal between Bolshevik Russia and Kemalist Turkey, another unadopted decision began to operate. Everyone talks about the decision “adopted” on July 5, 1921, but few mention that this decision was not adopted. It was neither put to vote nor voted. Artsakh was annexed to Azerbaijan with the light hand of Stalin, with the Russian-Turkish agreement. That decision, on which Nikol Pashinyan happily relies, is legally null and void.”
Former Human Rights Defender Larisa Alaverdyan
From that moment, the Artsakh issue or, as people who pervert history like to say, the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Karabakh began. In other words, Azerbaijan’s territorial ambitions have been fully satisfied with Nagorno-Karabakh, which is four times larger than the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region, and Nakhichevan. And all this was done under one clear condition that Nagorno-Karabakh should have autonomy; it is called a condition in legal language, without which such, even illegal agreements have no force.
The national liberation struggle, the armed struggle that is called the first Karabakh war, was conducted under the slogan of unification. And the territories Azerbaijan once stole, usurped by illegal Soviet decisions, were liberated. That happened until 1994; that is, the nation struggled to reunify and reintegrate at least part of the territories that were illegally annexed to Azerbaijan during the Soviet period. But our first government refused it verbally and agreed that Nagorno-Karabakh would remain a part of Azerbaijan, only with the status of high autonomy. After that, we had two more administrations, which during the period of power went to the following solution: the preservation and protection of the material status quo, that is, the liberated territories.
And for this, no separate approach or strategy for the security of Artsakh and RA was developed. Still, a unified one was set because it was clear to everyone that as soon as we touched on the liberated territories, it would become an object of political trade. The security of the Republic of Armenia will be completely undermined. Unfortunately, the package called “Madrid Principles” that appeared on the table was not born in 2007-2008, but it reflected the package agreed upon between Armenia and international organizations before that. There were two positive points in this package: one; the final solution should be agreed upon with the elected government and people of NK; second, a delayed referendum on the status should definitely be held, the results of which would be recognized by the entire international community. I leave it to the international community’s conscience why it did not recognize NK in the 1991 December 10 and 2016 December 10 referendums.
We must make it clear that everything deliberately or as a result of illiteracy being distorted by the person occupying the position of today’s RA leader has absolutely nothing in common, even with the “Madrid principles.” I have criticized the “Madrid Principles” from this point of view; I have said that such events can happen, and such a leader will come who can completely turn history back, which occurred. The Republic of Armenia mentions the accession I said as a goal.
Violating the decision of the Supreme Council of July 8, 1992, according to which Armenia cannot sign any document by which Artsakh is recognized as part of Azerbaijan, taking steps that contain all the characteristics of a severe crime, the person holding the position of the head of the government today declares that he is ready to recognize Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan. He is prepared to do it himself; he has no right to give the name of Armenia because if it is going to be an interstate agreement, then it must be ratified by the National Assembly and the Constitutional Court.
Secondly, the Constitutional Court cannot ratify that document because it contradicts the RA Constitution. In other words, we cannot find a legal basis there; it is purely political arbitrariness, and that arbitrary decision is worse than the decision of the Caucasian Bureau. The Bureau at least insisted that there should be autonomy there and here this team, showing political insanity, talks about human rights and security. I’m sorry, which head is it that did not understand that the most important and first of human rights is the right to self-determination?
– What should be done in the current situation? What should the Armenian people do?
– His voters made up 1/3 of our voters. And it is required that the remaining 2/3 of our voters become active, particularly the passive side that did not vote and gave their consent to the steps containing all the characteristics of a crime. The fact that the international community, through Charles Michel, is making a statement is entirely contrary to the decision of the European Parliament. We must talk about the fact that today the largest centers of the international community are celebrating, so to speak, and taking advantage of the fact that the team serving the Turkish-Azerbaijani genocidal programs has come to power in Armenia, is making irresponsible statements.
In the end, I will add: no one, not the utterly wrong statement of the Council of Europe, not any team with its leader, can take away from the people of Artsakh their right to self-determination and that right that has already been realized. On the contrary, the illegally separated part of the Armenian people of Artsakh has every reason, according to international law, to continue fighting for its right and to demand from everyone, including the international community, not to support the crime against humanity that Azerbaijan is committing against the Armenians of Artsakh and the Republic of Armenia.
Roza HOVHANNISYAN
“Aravot” daily, 27.05.2023
