September 19, 2005 - 13:30 AMT
OSKANIAN: PEOPLE OF KARABAKH FOUGHT AND WON RIGHT OF SELF-DETERMINATION
September 18 Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian has addressed the UN Assembly General 60th session, RA Foreign Ministry reported. The Minister spoke about the Millennium Development Goals finding the combat against poverty and economy development extremely important. In his speech the Minister also referred to the regional conflicts and the course of their settlement. He has mentioned that "in case of regional conflicts preaching of military solutions is not only unreal but also reflects the absence of democracy, human rights and the perception of civic society". Speaking about the rights of the people of Nagorno Karabakh, he underlined, "Self-determination is the right of every person. The people of Nagorno Karabakh have fought and won the right of self-determination. In order to win it, they have fought the political and military aggression of a government which was not elected by them and which tried to suppress them by force. The fight for their rights was no their choice. Their rights were neither abstract nor exaggerated. They wanted what most of us have, that is the right to live in their houses on their lands peacefully. Despite everything, they reached their aim. From that time on they have shown their ability of governing and developing democratic institution". Finding the realization of Millennium Development Goals, the Minister noted that we are responsible for the coming generations. And our answer to ourselves and to our children must be the united effort, united measures and united answers on the part of United Nations. The UN can still be the answer, said Vartan Oskanian.