Arstakh Republic doesn’t accept Madrid Principles

July 2, 2010 - 12:42 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Non-governmental organizations of the Arstakh Republic (NKR) have addressed a statement to President of the United States, Russia and France, Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group and all those who undertook to resolve the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

The statement says:

“In connection with the statement on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, made on June 26, 2010 on the sidelines of the G8 Summit in Muskoka, Canada, by Heads of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing States, Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, Barack Obama of the United States and Nicolas Sarkozy of France, we note that we welcome the aspiration of the international community and the co-chairing states for the peaceful settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict,

However, in a situation of systematic violations by Azerbaijan of the cease-fire, including numerous armed attacks by subversion units entailing grave consequences and casualties on both sides;

against the background of unprecedented arms race and a never-ending military and political hysteria;

a ferociously cultivated armenophobia, raised to the level of state policy operating with lie, slander and misinformation;

In circumstances,

when the position of the Nagorno Karabakh people and its constitutional rights are continuously ignored by the international community and the mediators;

when 16 years after the signing of the cease-fire agreement, international organizations have not yet given an assessment to the past war, either named the true aggressor and the party responsible for hundreds of thousands of destroyed lives;

when the NKR, officially recognized as a party to the conflict, does not participate in the negotiations,

We address the Presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing States, who play the role of the basic external actors in the settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict, and we consider it necessary to emphasize that:

The recent statement by the Presidents of the United States, Russia and France in fact confirms articulately the contents of the “Madrid principles”, which, as we repeatedly stated, cannot be realized.

In a number of statements and declarations, we have presented our well-reasoned opinion concerning the unacceptability of the “Madrid principles” as a basis for settling the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. The document does not take into consideration either the historical or the international and legal or the post-conflict realities, and its realization is fraught with destabilization of the whole region and another large-scale war with unpredictable consequences, and not only for the South Caucasus.

All those who try to impose on the people of Artsakh unacceptable solutions containing a threat to the overall security, should realize that they assume political and moral responsibility before the Armenian people for an inevitable raise of tensions and a war, aimed at the physical annihilation of the people of Artsakh.

Such a scenario will be unequivocally viewed as a continuation of the Genocide carried out by the Turkish statehood at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries, the massacre and deportation of Armenians in Sumgait, Baku, Kirovabad in 1988-1990, the “Ring” operation and the ethnic cleansing in NKR carried out by Soviet and Azerbaijani punitive squads.

The attempts at depriving the NKR people of their right to future should be recognized as twice unfair and immoral against the background of decisions with respect to other conflicts on the post-Soviet space and in Europe. The world must consider the fact that during the past years and after the successful repulsion by the Armenian forces of the Azerbaijani aggression and the victory in the war imposed by Azerbaijan, we have managed to restore the economy, have built our statehood and are now firmly following the path of democratic development relying on the law, which is in conformity with all basic norms of international law.

The civil society of NKR has always welcomed peacemaking initiatives, but we are for а real and lasting peace, and not for its imitation; we are for full-fledged and full-format negotiations, but not for a process for the sake of negotiations; we are for consideration and solution of humanitarian and political issues allowing for the grave consequences of territorial and ethnic delimitation of the two peoples, but we do not and will not accept total infringement of our constitutional decisions and natural rights.

We address the Presidents of the United States, Russia and France, and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs to say once again:

The proposed solutions are nonviable also for the following reasons:

The level of the NKR people’s mistrust to the political leadership of Azerbaijan, in view of its policy of hatred towards Armenians, the establishment in the country of an authoritarian regime and the violation of the rights of both national minorities and ethnic Azerbaijanis struggling against the regime, has grown in tens and hundreds times. The criminal intentions of Azerbaijan’s leadership towards the Armenians of NKR are obvious.

We do not trust any peacekeeping forces as we have learned enough lessons not only from our own history, but also from events of the recent years in the region and the world. Only the armed forces of NKR can provide perfect security for our citizens.

We are ready to encourage any forces in their mediatory efforts for establishing a long-awaited and lasting peace, but we ask you at the same time to consider that there are no countries and no forces in the world, which have the right to forbid the people of Artsakh to defend their legitimate right for life, freedom and independence.”