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From The Hague To Kosovo, From Kosovo To Karabakh: Leaders In Stepan

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  • From The Hague To Kosovo, From Kosovo To Karabakh: Leaders In Stepan

    >From The Hague To Kosovo, From Kosovo To Karabakh: Leaders In Stepanakert Talk About Need For International Recognition
    Naira Hayrumyan

    ArmeniaNow correspondent

    NKR President Bako Sahakyan at a press conference in Stepanakert,
    July 23, 2010

    An all-national rally was to have been held in Karabakh on July 23,
    the day after the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ)
    in the Hague upheld the legitimacy of the Serbian breakaway region of
    Kosovo's proclamation of independence. People were about to pour into
    the streets, a large group of journalists from Yerevan had arrived
    in Stepanakert. But the rally was canceled with explanation.

    Instead, the heads of the three factions in the Karabakh parliament and
    the NKR president held press conferences in Stepanakert. The country's
    leadership said the ICJ judgment on the legality of the secession
    of Kosovo will be a milestone in the struggle for the recognition
    of Karabakh's independence. But the political forces said Karabakh
    is not going to apply to the court for the recognition of its right
    to self-determination - in Karabakh they think that they have already
    exercised this right, which they had earned through suffering, and what
    remains to do is to get the recognition of the country's independence.

    The UN court decision was hailed by the United States and the European
    Union. Russia pronounced against it. Still, almost none seemed to be
    contesting the validity of the decision, but were simply saying that
    it could open a Pandora box for unrecognized countries. On July 22,
    U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley, answering the question
    whether the decision of the Hague court could be applied to other
    similar cases and lead to nationalist movements in the rest of Europe,
    said: "I'll be brief, no."

    "One can single out the fair arguments made by the Russian Ministry of
    Foreign Affairs, which stated that the International Court of Justice
    had failed to consider the question of the legality of a unilateral
    declaration of independence by Kosovo, had failed to address the
    possible consequences of such a self-proclamation and the international
    court has not said whether Kosovo is a state or not," said head of
    the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry press service Elhan Polukhov.

    Nevertheless, during the Friday press conference, NKR President
    Bako Sahakyan said that regardless of the recognition of Kosovo,
    Karabakh will continue its efforts for international recognition of
    its independence.

    He stressed that over the past years the position of the
    Nagorno-Karabakh Republic has not changed: the independence and
    security of Karabakh aren't negotiable. "We consider the independence
    of Karabakh not within the borders of the former Nagorno-Karabakh
    autonomous region," he said.

    The President also said that the recognition of Karabakh by Armenia
    is not an end in itself.

    The head of the Homeland parliamentary faction Arthur Tovmasyan
    believes that Armenia's parliament may take the decision of the court
    as a basis for starting the process of recognizing NKR.

    Stepanakert holds that the format of the current internationally
    mediated negotiations with Azerbaijan should be changed and Karabakh
    should join them as a full party. Vahram Atanesyan, a member of
    the Democracy faction in the Karabakh parliament, said that from
    now Karabakh has got more grounds to insist on its participation in
    the talks.

    Head of the Dashnaktsutyun faction Armen Sargsyan said: "It is Karabakh
    that should be a full party of the talks and Armenia should take
    part in the negotiations within a strictly defined legal framework -
    as the guarantor of Karabakh's independence and security."

    Chairman of the NKR Public Council on Foreign Policy and Security
    Masis Mayilyan noted that Armenia has good reason to start talks
    with Pristina on the recognition by Yerevan of the independence of
    Kosovo and the recognition of NKR's independence by Pristina. "The
    restraint shown by Armenia in the matter of recognizing Kosovo during
    the past two years has not produced tangible results, while Serbia
    has successfully developed its relations with the countries that
    were among the first to recognize Kosovo's independence (Turkey,
    the United States, the European Union)," said Mayilyan.

    Meanwhile, the NKR Foreign Ministry issued a statement in which it
    said that "the right of the people of Karabakh to have and build
    their state, as well as determine their own destiny will undoubtedly
    be recognized by the international community, since it was realized
    in full accordance with the basic principles of international law
    and is hard-won and fair."




    From: A. Papazian
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