Tigran Balayan's fatigue

The signing of the Moscow declaration by the presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia was followed by the statements of the spokesmen for the Foreign ministries of Azerbaijan and Armenia.

On November 3 spokesman for Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Khazar Ibrahim announced that the "principle of the observation of the territorial integrity is basic among other principles, reflected in the international law and in all other international documents".

Speaking to journalists, he noted that "the principle of nations for self-determination, which we recognize, was reflected in the Helsinki final act, which says, however, that the said principle may be settled only in the framework of the observation of the principle of territorial integrity". Khazar Ibrahim especially noted that "in the framework of the international law different principles has their due place and power and the principle of territorial integrity is above the principle for self-determination".

The reaction of the Armenian side did not take long to appear. At the same time Khazar Ibrahim's Armenian counterpart Tihran Balayan tried to calm down the internal audience by his response, in which he said that the "Moscow declaration, signed by the presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia, does not envision domination of any principle of international law".

In his comment, the Armenian diplomat noted that "the President of Azerbaijan earlier undersigned a document which does not say that the principle of the territorial integrity is more important than other principles of international law".  

It is obvious that the Armenian Foreign Ministry has so much work to do that by the end of the work day its employees are unable to read a couple of lines from the statement of the spokesman for the neighbor state. Even if they can, their fatigue does not allow them to analyze simple texts.

Indeed, the Moscow Declaration does not contain a single word about domination of the principle of territorial integrity over the right of nations for self-determination, at least because there is a fundamental document of international law, Helsinki Final Act of 1975 for the purpose. In his statement Khazar Ibrahim refers to it rather than on the Moscow declaration. If the presidents of the three countries note that the resolution of Nagorno Karabakh conflict is possible only in the format of the OSCE Minsk Group, it should be bore in mind that this was Helsinki Final Act which laid a basis for creation of the OSCE, in the framework of which the MG is currently functioning. All documents and declarations, which emerged with participation of the MG co-chairs, are derived from this basic document of international law. Therefore, there is no need to copy and paste different quotes from the Helsinki act and insert them into all MG documents without exception, including the Moscow declaration.

There is a good recommendation for especially tired Armenian diplomats: read chapter 3 of the Helsinki act (inviolability of borders), 4 (territorial integrity), 6 (non-interference with the internal affairs) and read chapter 8 (equal rights and self-determination of nations), paying special attention to its first paragraph: "The member-states shall respect the equal rights of nations and their right for self-determination, acting in all cases in full compliance with the aims and principles of the UN charter and due norms of international law, including those regarding the territorial integrity of states". In other words, the right for self-determination is not a right for separation, while the international law as an upper level of self-determination of nations envisions the internal self-determination, which Azerbaijan offers to the two-ethnic population of its Nagorno Karabakh province.

To Balayan's resentment, the Moscow declaration still PROPOSES domination of the principle of the territorial integrity of the right of nations for self-determination, at least because this is fixed in the Helsinki Final Act! If the Foreign Ministry of Armenia intends to involve Azerbaijan into the next senseless debates about which document is basic and which is derived from it, the Armenian diplomats will have to discuss this issue alone without their Azerbaijani counterparts.

/Day.Az/