Radar Armenia‘s interlocutor is Vahram Atanesyan, a former member of the Supreme Council of Armenia and the National Assembly of Nagorno-Karabakh.
– The French Ambassador to Armenia stated that those who claim that Nagorno-Karabakh was recognized as part of Azerbaijan in 2022 in Prague are lying because Armenia has recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan since the Alma-Ata Declaration. How would you comment on the Ambassador’s statement? Why did he make such a statement?
– The French Ambassador did not make a discovery. The former Union republics gained independence from the USSR with their territory and borders within that state, which they mutually recognized in the Alma-Ata Declaration. Who, when, what, and how it is said in Yerevan, Stepanakert, or Baku is irrelevant from the point of view of international law.
– These statements by the French Ambassador gave rise to various interpretations in the political field. There were claims that the Ambassador was mistaken. Is this statement of the Ambassador a mistake, or does it have another explanation?
– I have a question for the critics of the French Ambassador: if Nagorno-Karabakh was not part of Azerbaijan, from whom did NKR gain independence in the December 10, 1991 referendum? We had a solid argument for internationalizing the independence of NKR. During the collapse of the USSR, autonomous formations in 1990, By virtue of the law of April 3, 1991, had the right to determine their status by referendum if the union republic seceded from the USSR. Unfortunately, the international community did not fully understand this justification. That is why the “Madrid Principles” provided for a new referendum, but with the consent of Azerbaijan. Baku did not give that consent; it resolved the issue militarily. Instead of attributing blame to the French Ambassador, all political forces should strive to condemn Azerbaijan’s aggression, recognize the dissolution of the NKR statehood as illegal, and reaffirm the right of the Armenian population of NKR to self-determination.
– Don’t such statements make the talks about dissolving the Minsk Group and, ultimately, the aspirations to follow that path more favorable?
– The Minsk Group may be dissolved if the OSCE is dissolved. However, even in that case, the Helsinki Final Act remains a legal document establishing the principles and norms of international law.
