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ASHOT GHULIAN, "THE SOUTH CAUCASUS LACKS THE EUROPEAN POLITICAL CULTURE"
Ruzan ISHKHANIAN
http://artsakhtert.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=741:-ashot-ghulian-the-south-caucasus-lacks-the-european-political-culture&catid=5:politics&Itemid=17
Tuesday, 26 June 2012 10:08
The June 19 press conference convened by Chairman of the NKR National
Assembly Ashot Ghulian was dedicated to the June 11-15 visit of the
NKR delegation to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland. The press conference was attended by member of the delegation,
NKR Minister of Culture and Youth Affairs Narine Aghabalian.
The Parliament Speaker informed that meetings had taken place mostly
in London - with the political circles, the Armenian community
and its various entities, as well as at scientific and educational
institutions.
It was the first visit of the NKR official delegation to the United
Kingdom: for the last 20 years, the desire to visit this country has
always existed, but each time the preference was given to the OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairing states or the countries displaying strong
interest in our issue. According to Ashot Ghulian, the visit was
though late, but necessary and the meetings within the scheduled
program were truly effective.
An official invitation was received from the multi-party parliamentary
group of Armenian-British friendship, the 20th anniversary of which
was celebrated in this February. On the first day of the visit,
our delegation was invited to the House of Lords of Great Britain
to take part in the solemn jubilee session of the Armenian-British
parliamentary group. Speaking of the visits of former Vice-Speaker
of the House of Lords Baroness Caroline Cox to Karabakh, A. Ghulian
noted that the great friend of Artsakh each time tried to bring
here new colleagues to familiarize them with our country. "Over the
years we have managed to find friends in the House of Lords and the
House of Commons of the United Kingdom. By the way, Baroness Cox is
currently the chairwoman of the Armenian-British parliamentary group,
the vice-chairman is member of the House of Commons John Laytingdele
who, as a member of the British delegation, visited Artsakh the last
March", said Mr. Ghulian. The meeting at the House of Lords consisted
of two parts: in the first part, an annual report meeting of the
parliamentary group was conducted; in the second part, the floor
was given to the Chairman of the National Assembly of the Republic
of Artsakh who congratulated all those present on the anniversary,
presented the achievements and successes of our Republic for the
20 years of independence. A. Giuliani noted that the NKR needed
international cooperation and presented the prospective programs, on
which our country pins great hopes. And strengthening and deepening
the Armenian-British relations can become one of the conditions of
their realization.
During the visit, our delegation, with the assistance of the RA
Embassy, had a series of meetings. At the Oriental and African
Researches Center (OARC) of the London University, the NKR
Parliament Speaker made a report on "The Prospects for Progress and
Stability in the Caucasus: Peace and the State-Building Process in
Nagorno-Karabakh". The meeting was attended by a large group of our
fellow citizens and representatives of scientific and analytical
centers. After his speech, Mr. Ghulian answered the attendants'
questions. The meetings held at the OARC and the Chatham House Royal
Institute of International Affairs showed that the British public
and political circles display great interest in the Karabakh issue,
and, as it turned out, they are not indifferent to the political and
social-economic processes here.
On June 13, the NKR delegation visited the city of Oxford - a
well-known scientific-educational and students' center. This trip
was initiated by the Armenian youth, which studies at different
departments of the university and which represents Armenia here. The
meeting was attended by lecturers and students of various institutes
of the university. The meeting was held in the same format: after
the lectures, Mr. Ghulian answered the attendants' questions.
The last day of the visit, a meeting was held at the well-known
center of Chatham House. According to Ashot Ghulian, the meeting
was very interesting; it became possible, together with prominent
experts dealing with the problems of our region, to present all the
areas of Karabakh. The questions asked by the audience confirmed
that they are well informed about the current developments in
Artsakh. They were interested in both the official position of the
Republic's authorities and the public moods that prevail in Artsakh,
as well as the issues related to the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict
settlement, social-economic programs, cultural, scientific, educational
initiatives, and the domestic political processes
Mr. Ghulian noted that on the initiative of the Primate of the British
Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church in the United Kingdom,
Bishop Vahan Hovhannisyan, a meeting with the leaders of Armenian
organizations of Great Britain had taken place. In a conversation
with them, the viewpoints, hopes, and aspirations of our people
were presented.
As a whole, the NKR NA Chairman positively evaluated the results of
the visit. He noted that the initial idea that the United Kingdom has
not so large resources for cooperation, in fact, was wrong. A.shot
Ghulian sees great potential for cooperation. "Political and official
relations will be, surely, established in the future, but today also
there are opportunities associated with the parliamentary relations,
humanitarian, educational and cultural programs. I think these
opportunities are obvious. After talking with our British colleagues,
we were convinced that they have a desire to cooperate with us",
said Mr. Ghulian.
Then, the Parliament Speaker answered the journalists' questions. When
asked what areas of cooperation the NKR NA Chairman had outlined,
being at the UK House of Lords, Mr. Ghulian said that the first thing
he thought when entering the House of Lords was that after hundred
years the NKR Parliament, following the example of the British one,
had its own tradition and influence in the region. By the way,
those in Europe believe that the parliamentary system is strictly
a British phenomenon, taking its origin from the times of Oliver
Cromwell (an outstanding statesman of the 17th century): the idea of
classic parliamentary system was born in Britain, which means that
they can teach us a lot. According to Mr. Ghulian, if today we have,
at least, a small element of cooperation with the Parliaments of the
OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing states - with the U.S. Congress, the
French National Assembly, (after the last elections, there is a need
to update the links with the State Duma of the Russian Federation),
so this circumstance creates good prerequisites to ensure that we
can establish parliamentary cooperation on such a basis, which is
classically accepted in the inter-parliamentary relations between the
recognized countries. Over time, we will have a new, much larger and
more influential group at the House of Lords.
The second question of Azat Artsakh newspaper was as follows: after
the discussions held at the Royal Institute of Chatham House, what
new opportunities does the NA Chairman see for the Karabakh conflict
settlement and for the NKR international recognition? A. Ghulian
answered that at this well-known analytical center, our delegation
had an opportunity to present the vulnerable issues and the fields
of possible collaboration. The interesting questions indicated the
center's attention towards both the South Caucasus region and the
Karabakh issue.
When asked whether the NA Chairman saw similarities between Northern
Ireland and Karabakh, Mr. Ghulian said that despite the existence of
conflicts, normal good-neighborly relations dominated in the United
Kingdom: quite different political culture is formed there, which
lacks today in the South Caucasus. The royal institutional system does
not impede the people striving for self-determination, in particular,
in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Falkland Islands also have the
right to self-determination, of which the NKR delegation was informed
during the visit. This position testifies that the United Kingdom and
the European state system properly respond to the existing challenges.
"If the mediation efforts for resolving the Karabakh conflict were
based on the same European approaches and if the mediators tried
to move this political culture here, our region would profit and
the conflicts would be solved much faster", said the NKR Parliament
Speaker .
Ruzan ISHKHANIAN
http://artsakhtert.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=741:-ashot-ghulian-the-south-caucasus-lacks-the-european-political-culture&catid=5:politics&Itemid=17
Tuesday, 26 June 2012 10:08
The June 19 press conference convened by Chairman of the NKR National
Assembly Ashot Ghulian was dedicated to the June 11-15 visit of the
NKR delegation to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland. The press conference was attended by member of the delegation,
NKR Minister of Culture and Youth Affairs Narine Aghabalian.
The Parliament Speaker informed that meetings had taken place mostly
in London - with the political circles, the Armenian community
and its various entities, as well as at scientific and educational
institutions.
It was the first visit of the NKR official delegation to the United
Kingdom: for the last 20 years, the desire to visit this country has
always existed, but each time the preference was given to the OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairing states or the countries displaying strong
interest in our issue. According to Ashot Ghulian, the visit was
though late, but necessary and the meetings within the scheduled
program were truly effective.
An official invitation was received from the multi-party parliamentary
group of Armenian-British friendship, the 20th anniversary of which
was celebrated in this February. On the first day of the visit,
our delegation was invited to the House of Lords of Great Britain
to take part in the solemn jubilee session of the Armenian-British
parliamentary group. Speaking of the visits of former Vice-Speaker
of the House of Lords Baroness Caroline Cox to Karabakh, A. Ghulian
noted that the great friend of Artsakh each time tried to bring
here new colleagues to familiarize them with our country. "Over the
years we have managed to find friends in the House of Lords and the
House of Commons of the United Kingdom. By the way, Baroness Cox is
currently the chairwoman of the Armenian-British parliamentary group,
the vice-chairman is member of the House of Commons John Laytingdele
who, as a member of the British delegation, visited Artsakh the last
March", said Mr. Ghulian. The meeting at the House of Lords consisted
of two parts: in the first part, an annual report meeting of the
parliamentary group was conducted; in the second part, the floor
was given to the Chairman of the National Assembly of the Republic
of Artsakh who congratulated all those present on the anniversary,
presented the achievements and successes of our Republic for the
20 years of independence. A. Giuliani noted that the NKR needed
international cooperation and presented the prospective programs, on
which our country pins great hopes. And strengthening and deepening
the Armenian-British relations can become one of the conditions of
their realization.
During the visit, our delegation, with the assistance of the RA
Embassy, had a series of meetings. At the Oriental and African
Researches Center (OARC) of the London University, the NKR
Parliament Speaker made a report on "The Prospects for Progress and
Stability in the Caucasus: Peace and the State-Building Process in
Nagorno-Karabakh". The meeting was attended by a large group of our
fellow citizens and representatives of scientific and analytical
centers. After his speech, Mr. Ghulian answered the attendants'
questions. The meetings held at the OARC and the Chatham House Royal
Institute of International Affairs showed that the British public
and political circles display great interest in the Karabakh issue,
and, as it turned out, they are not indifferent to the political and
social-economic processes here.
On June 13, the NKR delegation visited the city of Oxford - a
well-known scientific-educational and students' center. This trip
was initiated by the Armenian youth, which studies at different
departments of the university and which represents Armenia here. The
meeting was attended by lecturers and students of various institutes
of the university. The meeting was held in the same format: after
the lectures, Mr. Ghulian answered the attendants' questions.
The last day of the visit, a meeting was held at the well-known
center of Chatham House. According to Ashot Ghulian, the meeting
was very interesting; it became possible, together with prominent
experts dealing with the problems of our region, to present all the
areas of Karabakh. The questions asked by the audience confirmed
that they are well informed about the current developments in
Artsakh. They were interested in both the official position of the
Republic's authorities and the public moods that prevail in Artsakh,
as well as the issues related to the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict
settlement, social-economic programs, cultural, scientific, educational
initiatives, and the domestic political processes
Mr. Ghulian noted that on the initiative of the Primate of the British
Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church in the United Kingdom,
Bishop Vahan Hovhannisyan, a meeting with the leaders of Armenian
organizations of Great Britain had taken place. In a conversation
with them, the viewpoints, hopes, and aspirations of our people
were presented.
As a whole, the NKR NA Chairman positively evaluated the results of
the visit. He noted that the initial idea that the United Kingdom has
not so large resources for cooperation, in fact, was wrong. A.shot
Ghulian sees great potential for cooperation. "Political and official
relations will be, surely, established in the future, but today also
there are opportunities associated with the parliamentary relations,
humanitarian, educational and cultural programs. I think these
opportunities are obvious. After talking with our British colleagues,
we were convinced that they have a desire to cooperate with us",
said Mr. Ghulian.
Then, the Parliament Speaker answered the journalists' questions. When
asked what areas of cooperation the NKR NA Chairman had outlined,
being at the UK House of Lords, Mr. Ghulian said that the first thing
he thought when entering the House of Lords was that after hundred
years the NKR Parliament, following the example of the British one,
had its own tradition and influence in the region. By the way,
those in Europe believe that the parliamentary system is strictly
a British phenomenon, taking its origin from the times of Oliver
Cromwell (an outstanding statesman of the 17th century): the idea of
classic parliamentary system was born in Britain, which means that
they can teach us a lot. According to Mr. Ghulian, if today we have,
at least, a small element of cooperation with the Parliaments of the
OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing states - with the U.S. Congress, the
French National Assembly, (after the last elections, there is a need
to update the links with the State Duma of the Russian Federation),
so this circumstance creates good prerequisites to ensure that we
can establish parliamentary cooperation on such a basis, which is
classically accepted in the inter-parliamentary relations between the
recognized countries. Over time, we will have a new, much larger and
more influential group at the House of Lords.
The second question of Azat Artsakh newspaper was as follows: after
the discussions held at the Royal Institute of Chatham House, what
new opportunities does the NA Chairman see for the Karabakh conflict
settlement and for the NKR international recognition? A. Ghulian
answered that at this well-known analytical center, our delegation
had an opportunity to present the vulnerable issues and the fields
of possible collaboration. The interesting questions indicated the
center's attention towards both the South Caucasus region and the
Karabakh issue.
When asked whether the NA Chairman saw similarities between Northern
Ireland and Karabakh, Mr. Ghulian said that despite the existence of
conflicts, normal good-neighborly relations dominated in the United
Kingdom: quite different political culture is formed there, which
lacks today in the South Caucasus. The royal institutional system does
not impede the people striving for self-determination, in particular,
in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Falkland Islands also have the
right to self-determination, of which the NKR delegation was informed
during the visit. This position testifies that the United Kingdom and
the European state system properly respond to the existing challenges.
"If the mediation efforts for resolving the Karabakh conflict were
based on the same European approaches and if the mediators tried
to move this political culture here, our region would profit and
the conflicts would be solved much faster", said the NKR Parliament
Speaker .