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Tiraspol Times & Weekly Review, Moldova
June 17 2007
Nagorno-Karabakh joins Transdniester, Abkhazia and S.Ossetia in call
for peace
Four unrecognized countries have taken a united stand on settling
conflicts without the use of violence. Transdniester, Abkhazia, South
Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh signed a joint appeal for peaceful
settlement on conflicts involving their territories. An earlier
appeal to the United Nations did not include Nagorno-Karabakh.
By Times staff, 17/Jun/2007
The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) joined PMR and two other
unrecognized states in a call for non-violent conflict
resolutionTIRASPOL (Tiraspol Times) - The foreign ministries of four
unrecognized countries - the Transdniester Republic, Abkhazia, South
Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh - signed the a joint declaration on
principles for peaceful and just settlement of their territorial
conflicts with Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan,
respectively.
Its text was circulated on Sunday by the Foreign Ministry of
Transdniester (officially Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica, or
PMR, but also known under names such as Transnistria or
Trans-Dnestr).
Key to the document is the appeal that conflicts should be settled
only by peaceful political means on the basis of respect for the
views of all the sides of a conflict, taking into account the right
of peoples to self-determination.
It condemns the use of any forms of pressure at negotiations, be it
open violence - such as military action - or covert violence,
including dis-information wars, economic blockades and sanctions,
diplomatic isolation and other measures which result in unfair
pressure on the weaker side of the negotiations.
Message to Moldova: Respect int'l law
In addition to their appeal for non-violence and a democratic status
settlement, the four foreign ministers agreed to set up international
guarantee systems of a post-conflict settlement. Such international
involvement would include outside guarantees of the observance of
international law and economic guarantees, as well as guarantees of
their peoples' security and observance of human rights by all sides
to the conflicts.
The document concludes by expressing the conviction that `respect of
these principles by all subjects of the international community,
including Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldova, will create adequate
prerequisites for the earliest and just settlement of conflicts and
will be a common contribution to strengthening of international
stability and protection of human rights'.
Following the signing of the document, Transdniester Foreign Minister
Valeri Litskai said that eventual independence of Kosovo would create
a precedent for his own country, taking into account the maturity of
Transdniester's statehood and its government institutions.
` - We are 17 years old, while Kosovo is only seven. Kosovars are a
long way from international democratic standards so far,' said PMR's
Valeri Litskai.
The other three signatories to the document are also older than
Kosovo, being each 15 or 16 years old. Of the four, Pridnestrovie
(Transdniester) was the first to declare inpendence: It did so in
1990, one year before the Republic of Moldova became an independent
country. Although Transdniester was legally a part of the former
Moldavian SSR within the Soviet Union, Transdniester has never
legally been a part of the new Republic of Moldova following the fall
of the Soviet Union.
Newcomer: Nagorno-Karabakh
The signature of Nagorno-Karabakh on the declaration is a departure
from recent policy.
Nagorno-Karabakh differs from other "frozen conflicts" in the
ex-Soviet Union in that it has repeatedly received funding from the
United States Congress. Throughout the 1990s, NKR's independence
leaders collaborated with other unrecognized countries but at the
advice of American consultants, they withdrew their close ties.
Washington felt that it was not beneficial for NKR to be lumped with
Abkhazia and Pridnestrovie (Transdniester), and the "handlers" held
out the promise of quick international independence recognition if
Nagorno-Karabakh would seek its own way.
No such promise materialized, and Nagorno-Karabakh is now again
inching closer to the other unrecognized countries in the region.
Discussions are underway for Nagorno-Karabakh to join the Community
for Democracy and Human Rights, an international governmental
organization founded by the three other unrecognized countries on the
post-Soviet space. NKR currently participates with observer sates,
but the Secretary-General of the group's Interparliamentary Assembly
says that this is likely to change.
` - The full membership of the Parliament of Nagorno Karabakh in the
Assembly as well as the membership of other partially recognized
states is under discussion," said Grigory Marakutsa, an ethnic
Moldovan from Pridnestrovie (Transdniester) who was formerly Speaker
of the PMR Parliament. (With information from Itar-Tass)
http://www.tiraspoltimes.com/node/1018
From: Baghdasarian
June 17 2007
Nagorno-Karabakh joins Transdniester, Abkhazia and S.Ossetia in call
for peace
Four unrecognized countries have taken a united stand on settling
conflicts without the use of violence. Transdniester, Abkhazia, South
Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh signed a joint appeal for peaceful
settlement on conflicts involving their territories. An earlier
appeal to the United Nations did not include Nagorno-Karabakh.
By Times staff, 17/Jun/2007
The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) joined PMR and two other
unrecognized states in a call for non-violent conflict
resolutionTIRASPOL (Tiraspol Times) - The foreign ministries of four
unrecognized countries - the Transdniester Republic, Abkhazia, South
Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh - signed the a joint declaration on
principles for peaceful and just settlement of their territorial
conflicts with Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan,
respectively.
Its text was circulated on Sunday by the Foreign Ministry of
Transdniester (officially Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica, or
PMR, but also known under names such as Transnistria or
Trans-Dnestr).
Key to the document is the appeal that conflicts should be settled
only by peaceful political means on the basis of respect for the
views of all the sides of a conflict, taking into account the right
of peoples to self-determination.
It condemns the use of any forms of pressure at negotiations, be it
open violence - such as military action - or covert violence,
including dis-information wars, economic blockades and sanctions,
diplomatic isolation and other measures which result in unfair
pressure on the weaker side of the negotiations.
Message to Moldova: Respect int'l law
In addition to their appeal for non-violence and a democratic status
settlement, the four foreign ministers agreed to set up international
guarantee systems of a post-conflict settlement. Such international
involvement would include outside guarantees of the observance of
international law and economic guarantees, as well as guarantees of
their peoples' security and observance of human rights by all sides
to the conflicts.
The document concludes by expressing the conviction that `respect of
these principles by all subjects of the international community,
including Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldova, will create adequate
prerequisites for the earliest and just settlement of conflicts and
will be a common contribution to strengthening of international
stability and protection of human rights'.
Following the signing of the document, Transdniester Foreign Minister
Valeri Litskai said that eventual independence of Kosovo would create
a precedent for his own country, taking into account the maturity of
Transdniester's statehood and its government institutions.
` - We are 17 years old, while Kosovo is only seven. Kosovars are a
long way from international democratic standards so far,' said PMR's
Valeri Litskai.
The other three signatories to the document are also older than
Kosovo, being each 15 or 16 years old. Of the four, Pridnestrovie
(Transdniester) was the first to declare inpendence: It did so in
1990, one year before the Republic of Moldova became an independent
country. Although Transdniester was legally a part of the former
Moldavian SSR within the Soviet Union, Transdniester has never
legally been a part of the new Republic of Moldova following the fall
of the Soviet Union.
Newcomer: Nagorno-Karabakh
The signature of Nagorno-Karabakh on the declaration is a departure
from recent policy.
Nagorno-Karabakh differs from other "frozen conflicts" in the
ex-Soviet Union in that it has repeatedly received funding from the
United States Congress. Throughout the 1990s, NKR's independence
leaders collaborated with other unrecognized countries but at the
advice of American consultants, they withdrew their close ties.
Washington felt that it was not beneficial for NKR to be lumped with
Abkhazia and Pridnestrovie (Transdniester), and the "handlers" held
out the promise of quick international independence recognition if
Nagorno-Karabakh would seek its own way.
No such promise materialized, and Nagorno-Karabakh is now again
inching closer to the other unrecognized countries in the region.
Discussions are underway for Nagorno-Karabakh to join the Community
for Democracy and Human Rights, an international governmental
organization founded by the three other unrecognized countries on the
post-Soviet space. NKR currently participates with observer sates,
but the Secretary-General of the group's Interparliamentary Assembly
says that this is likely to change.
` - The full membership of the Parliament of Nagorno Karabakh in the
Assembly as well as the membership of other partially recognized
states is under discussion," said Grigory Marakutsa, an ethnic
Moldovan from Pridnestrovie (Transdniester) who was formerly Speaker
of the PMR Parliament. (With information from Itar-Tass)
http://www.tiraspoltimes.com/node/1018
From: Baghdasarian