Explanation of Madrid principles to Armenian political scientists

Day.Az has already reported with reference to ARMENIA-Today news agency according to member of the political board of the Respublika opposition party Suren Surenyants, commenting on the Moscow declaration, signed between the Presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia on November 2, that though the document does not state the priority of the principle of the territorial integrity, it however includes reference to Madrid proposals, which attempt to harmonize the principle of the territorial integrity and the right of nations for self-determination. As is known, the Madrid formula envisions both the return of seven Azerbaijani regions, occupied by Armenia and conduction of a referendum in the territory of former NKAO to define its status in the future.

In connection with the pseudo-political speculations and willful interpretations of existing international documents by the political circles of Armenia, it seems necessary to explain to the Armenian counterparts the essence of the regulations of international law, directly related to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno Karabakh.

Taking into account the fact that the negotiation process is held in the format of the OSCE Minsk group, the search of ways for the resolution resolution of the conflict relies on the basic OSCE document - Helsinki Final Act of 1975. The same would happen if the negotiation process was held in the UN format. Then the UN charter and the resolutions of the Security Council and General Assembly would be a basis for the peaceful resolution of the conflict. Finally if the CE was the format for the negotiation process, the search of ways for the peaceful resolution would rely on the basic documents of this organization, including the PACE resolution.

No matter how the Yerevan politicians and political scientists interpret existing acts of international law and try to make them work in their favor, they will have to move from general to special but not vise versa. In other words, under existing basic documents of international law, Armenian side should not spend time and efforts for the repeated invention of a bicycle, which is not an effective deal.

The inclusion of two regulations - the rights of nations for self-determination and principle of the territorial integrity of the states - to the Madrid proposals is based on the due articles of the Helsinki final act, in which the territorial integrity of the states and inviolability of borders is an axiom, while the people have a right to determinate their fate only considering the norms of international law in conditions of observation of the territorial integrity of the country. This means that conduction of a referendum of the former NKAO in the indefinite future is possible for the purpose of defining its future status only within the Azerbaijan Republic. In this connection, it should be reminded again that the government of Azerbaijan fully recognizes the right of Nagorno Karabakh people (Nagorno Karabakh people are the residents of former NKAO at the moment of the beginning of the conflict, that is as of February 10 of 1989 and their ancestors) for self-determination in line with the regulations of the Helsinki Final Act of 1975.

The unwillingness of Armenian politicians and political scientists to familiarize attentively with the working documents of international law create conditions for their willful interpretation of the essence of the Madrid principles, fixed in written in the Moscow declaration. We still hope that this lesson for elimination of illiteracy is finally assimilated and will be the last one, allowing to drop the curtain in this issue.

Finally, it seems necessary to explain to the Armenian politicians the essence of the Moscow declaration, which states the need to search ways of the peaceful resolution of the conflict. The declaration really states importance of the peaceful resolution of the conflict, but at the same time it does not annul article 51 of the UN charter, which ensures the right of sovereign states for individual or collective self-defense. As is known, there is no sovereign, internationally recognized state, called "Nagorno Karabakh", while the conflict parties are two sovereign states, UN members - Armenia and Azerbaijan. The signatures of the two presidents is a documentary proof of the official recognition of this fact by Yerevan. Therefore, in case of Armenia's endless resistance to the demand to withdraw its troops from the occupied Nagorno Karabakh province of Azerbaijan and its seven regions, Azerbaijan will have to change the unilaterally introduced temporary moratorium to the use of article 51 of the UN charter. In this connection, the Yerevan politicians should correctly understand the essence of the regulation of the Moscow declaration about the importance of the peaceful resolution of the conflict - it does not and can not deprive Azerbaijan of the right for self-defense and just urges the parties to further abstain from use of force before the final resolution of the conflict.

If Armenian politicians further continue to interpret Madrid proposals and Moscow declaration in their favor, it can be perceived as nothing but a mistake...

/Day.Az/