VARDAN OSKANIAN: KARABAKH PROBLEM CAN BE SETTLED BY RECOGNIZING KARABAKH PEOPLE'S RIGHT FOR SELF-DETERMINATION

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Nagorno Karabakh conflict cannot be resolved militarily. Once there was a war and the Armenian party won it. However the problem was not solved. It cannot be solved via working out various documents confirming the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, as Karabakh will by now means agree to become a part of Azerbaijan again», Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian stated at the hearings in the National Assembly, IA Regnum reports. In his words Armenia is following three major principles: 1. Nagorno Karabakh cannot be a part of Azerbaijan, 2. there should be overland communication between Karabakh and Armenia, 3. the population of Karabakh should be given real security guarantees. However, the key item is Karabakh's right for self-determination, he stressed. The Minister also divided into 4 stages the cycle of negotiations that has now gone on for over a decade.

- The first stage began with the OSCE Budapest Summit and ended with the OSCE Lisbon Summit.

- The second stage covered the post-Lisbon period through the change of presidential administration in Armenia.

- The third stage stretched to the death of Father Aliyev.

- And the fourth stage is the one we're in now, that started with the change of administration in Azerbaijan.

«The permanent institute of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs formed in Budapest in 1994 made a successful effort in reconciling the principles of territorial integrity and self-determination. The result was the Common State document which was rejected by Azerbaijan. Direct meetings between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan followed Azerbaijan's rejection of the Common State. All together, during the third stage the two presidents met nearly two dozen times. They came to share an awareness of the need for a comprehensive solution. Father Aliyev, accepting the inevitable, tried to negotiate in a way as to reap such dividends that would make the whole package acceptable to his people. The result, in April 2001, was the Key West document, the second important document created during this third stage. The Key West document clearly affirmed the fact of the self-determination of the people of Nagorno Karabakh. Thus, in the six years from Lisbon to Key West, there had, in our opinion, been fundamental, radical changes in thinking on this issue - changes in sync with contemporary international developments and self-determination processes in different parts of the world", Vardan Oskanian said. "Azerbaijan's new authorities attempt to reverse the wheel of history. The presidents do meet, although not with the former frequency. There is a parallel track of foreign ministers meetings. During those talks, the issue of Nagorno Karabakh's status is always on the agenda. Azerbaijan is part of those discussions. Despite Azerbaijan's engagement, and the efforts of the sides to search for an acceptable resolution of the issue, Azerbaijan continues to attempt to simultaneously introduce the Nagorno Karabakh issue in those international forums which continue to abide by a traditional, conservative approach to the issues of territorial integrity and self-determination. The approach of those organizations is that when the principles of territorial integrity and self-determination clash with each other then the first receives preference all conflicts should be treated within a single resolution framework, regardless of the degree of legitimacy of grievances and gravity of the issue if a deviation is allowed and self-determination is recognized, it will become a precedent and a domino effect will result. Their answer to claims of self-determination is simply greater human rights and certain economic benefits. This approach ignores a great many factors including the role of history in shaping of one's identity and destiny", he noted.