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Armenia Praises Montenegro Independence Vote

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  • Armenia Praises Montenegro Independence Vote

    ARMENIA PRAISES MONTENEGRO INDEPENDENCE VOTE

    Serbianna.com, Michigan
    June 1 2006

    YEREVAN, Armenia-Armenia praised Montenegro's independence referendum
    Wednesday in a statement suggesting it hopes the vote will lend
    legitimacy to the sovereignty claims of an ethnic Armenian enclave
    in neighboring Azerbaijan.

    "We welcome the decision of the authorities and people of Montenegro
    on the creation of an independent state," Foreign Ministry spokesman
    Vladimir Karapetian said.

    He said Armenia "attaches special importance" to the fact that the
    plan to split with Serbia was decided in a referendum, calling it
    proof that plebiscites are an internationally recognized way to
    "express the rights of the people and resolve such problems."

    Karapetian did not mention Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave within
    Azerbaijan that has been controlled by ethnic Armenians since a
    1988-1994 war, but his comments suggested Armenia sees the Montenegro
    vote as a precedent for the region, whose claim to sovereignty is
    not internationally recognized.

    In December 1991, amid the breakup of the Soviet Union, voters in
    Nagorno-Karabakh overwhelmingly approved a referendum on independence
    from Azerbaijan. Its leaders say it wants to be independent or join
    Armenia.

    But votes in Nagorno-Karabakh have not been recognized by the
    international community, which would also be extremely unlikely
    to consider a new referendum legitimate if it were not supported
    by Azerbaijan.

    Azerbaijan vehemently opposes sovereignty for Nagorno-Karabakh and
    tension remains high, with sporadic clashes between the Azerbaijani
    military and Armenian and Karabakh forces that occupy Nagorno-Karabakh
    as well as seven neighboring districts of Azerbaijan. International
    efforts to promote a resolution have so far failed.
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