Vahram Atanesyan: Hague court's ruling is clear signal for Azerbaijan

PanARMENIAN.Net - Chairman of the NKR National Assembly Committee on Foreign Relations Vahram Atanesyan said that the ruling of the International Court of Justice on lawfulness of Kosovo independence provides the Republic of Artsakh with the right to apply to the Hague court with a demand to recognize independence of NKR.

Karabakh expected a similar decision. “The ruling is a precedent in the international practice. The international judicial institution has set the people’s right to self-determination above the principle of the territorial integrity for the first time. This is a certain signal for Azerbaijan,” Atanesyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

According to him, the Armenian diplomacy should use this positive impulse in its further actions and protect the rights of the Armenian side from stronger positions.

Vahram Atanesyan pointed to the fact that Nagorno Karabakh has managed to declare its independence in compliance with all norms of international law, simultaneously struggling against the Azerbaijani aggression. “We are none the worse than Kosovo and declared our independence under the same conditions. It provides us with the opportunity to apply to international judicial institutions with a demand to recognize independence of Artsakh,” concluded Atanesyan.

On July 22, the International Court of Justice said that Kosovo's unilateral secession from Serbia in 2008 did not violate international law.