Anzhela Mnatsakanyan,

Its common opinion that Nagorno-Karabakh is an unsolvable conflict as the two principles of international law contradict themselves: the right to self-determination and the right to territorial integrity.

But the picture seems to be different as Artsakh – the historic Armenian name of Nagorno-Karabakh – has nothing in common with the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and I am going to show why.

Pre-Soviet Period

Artsakh is an integral part of Historic Armenia, it is mentioned in the works of Strabo, Pliny the Elder, Claudius Ptolemy, Plutarch, Dio Cassius, and other ancient authors. Ancient Greek sources called the area Orkhistene.

In contrast, Azerbaijan is a relatively young country, which first appeared on the political map in 1918 with the name Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan (1918-1920). It was never formally recognized by the international community or by the League of Nations.

During 1918-1920, 95 percent of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh were Armenians, and they convened their first congress, which proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent political unit. The legislative power in Nagorno-Karabakh was exercised by the Assemblies of Armenians of Karabakh.

Between May 1918 and April 1920, Azerbaijan, supported by the military units from Turkey, committed acts of violence and mass killings against the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The efforts of the Government of Azerbaijan to solve the Karabakh problem by military means provoked the organization of Karabakh’s` self-defense.

Soon after, military units from the Republic of Armenia came to rescue the oppressed population of Karabakh and fully liberate Karabakh. On April 23, 1920, the Ninth Assembly of Armenians of Karabakh declared Nagorno-Karabakh as an inalienable part of the Republic of Armenia.

Soviet Period

On November 30, 1920, the now-Soviet Government of Azerbaijan adopted a Declaration on recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh, Zanghezour, and Nakhichevan as part of Soviet Armenia. On July 4th, 1921, The Caucasian Bureau of the Communist Party of Russia convened a plenary meeting in the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi, during which it again confirmed the fact that Nagorno-Karabakh belongs to the Armenian SSR.

However, during the nights of July 4 and 5, 1921, a new decision was dictated by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, which stated: “Proceeding from the necessity of establishing peace between Muslims and Armenians… include Nagorno-Karabakh in the Azerbaijan SSR, granting it wide regional autonomy with an administrative center of Shushi, included in the autonomous region.”

These facts demonstrate, Nagorno-Karabakh belonged to the Azerbaijan SSR, neither during the Sovietization of Azerbaijan nor after the establishment of the Soviet power in Armenia when Baku recognized all disputed territories as Armenian.

On the other hand, with or without procedural violations, the legitimacy of this forum is seriously questioned.

The decision of the Caucasian Bureau of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party-Bolsheviks is an unprecedented legal act in the history of International Law: the political party of a third country, with no legal power or jurisdiction, decided the status of the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

In 1988, in response to the self-determination claims of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Azerbaijani authorities organized massacres and ethnic cleansing of the Armenians on the entire territory of Azerbaijan, particularly in Sumgait, Baku, and Kirovabad.

Process of independence:

On September 2, 1991, based on the USSR Law on “The procedures of the resolution of problems on the Secession of a Union Republic from the USSR,” a joint session of deputies of all levels of Nagorno-Karabakh and the Shahumyan region proclaimed the independence of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR), which was strengthened by the referendum of Independence of Nagorno-Karabakh, where 99.89% of participants voted “in favor” of Independence.

On October 18, 1991, the Republic of Azerbaijan confirmed its independence by the adoption of a “Constitutional Act on State Independence.” The same Constitutional Act considered the establishment of the Soviet power in Azerbaijan as “annexation by Soviet Russia” which “overthrew Azerbaijan’s legal Government.”

Thus, the Republic of Azerbaijan declared the establishment of Soviet power in Baku illegal and rejected the whole Soviet political and legal heritage.

When the Republic of Azerbaijan rejected Soviet legal heritage in 1991, the international subject to which the territories were passed in 1920 ceased to exist.

By rejecting the legal heritage of the Azerbaijan SSR of 1920-1991, the Republic of Azerbaijan has lost all claims to the territories passed to Soviet Azerbaijan in July 1921 – namely Nagorno-Karabakh.

It is important to highlight that Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan became independent according to the same domestic Soviet Law, so the legal bases of the independence of these two republics are equivalent.

Current stage:

In 1991, Azerbaijan launched a war against Nagorno-Karabakh, which lasted until May 1994, when Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Armenia via the mediation of Russia, signed a ceasefire agreement. The fact that Azerbaijan signed a ceasefire agreement with Nagorno-Karabakh is evidence that Karabakh was considered a distinct legal entity.

During all these years, Azerbaijani authorities, having all the necessary resources and a permanent military partner (Turkey), kept violating the ceasefire agreement.

The border clashes turned into wars in the summer 2014, and in April 2016, both times military activities were stopped by the mediation of Russia.

On September 27, 2020, Azerbaijan, backed by Turkey and with the involvement of foreign terrorist fighters, launched a new war against Artsakh. Thousands of soldiers from both sides were killed before the ceasefire was made.

Still, now the Republic of Artsakh has no status, and there is no real guarantee that Armenians of Artsakh will not face the new ethnic cleansing,

So, we can conclude that the territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan has nothing  in common with the Republic of Artsakh, as Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), was never been part of independent Azerbaijan, neither in 1918-1920 nor after 1991.

Anzhela Mnatsakanyan is a PhD student from Armenia. She specializes is the Eastern Partnership, Russia, and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Write Alyona Hayrapetyan, Stepanakert resident Zaven Sarukhanyan has turned his love of farming into practice by growing beans and carrots on a small plot of land outside his apartment building.

It’s his approach to circumvent Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Lachin Corridor, now in its seventh month, that has severely decreased the availability of food in the country.

Mr. Sarukhanyan has a larger plot of land in Nor Aresh, on the outskirts of Stepanakert, where he’s planted potatoes and other crops.

“I’m a village boy, from Khndzristan in the Askeran District. I am a lawyer by profession, but farming is my second profession. I like working with soil. The land never leaves a person dissatisfied. We get a harvest every three days. But the children have already eaten so much they’re full of beans,” says the sixty-six year-old

The urban farmer has to walk to his larger plot of land since public transportation in the Artsakh capital has been suspended due to a lack of fuel.

“At 7 o’clock in the morning, I go to the vegetable garden on foot, water it, spend almost the whole day there and walk back. I spend almost two hours on the road,” says Mr. Sarukhanyan.

He says the neighborhood kids no longer damage the garden. They now understand its benefits.

Susan Badasyan created a small vegetable garden in the yard of one of Stepanakert’s guest houses. She says that when she moved there with her son’s family, the area was filled with building debris.

“Anna Hakobyan, who was unable to find her place for two days after yesterday’s shameful and failed press conference of her husband, Nikol Pashinyan,

from her social network posts and from giving advice and lessons to Armenian women, “indescribably very evil “sisters and brothers”, “those who desire the mythical torture and death of her and her husband” in his free time, he makes extravagant gifts to various, including professional, circles that praise him or render him services.

Recently, for example, according to 168.am’s information, Anna Hakobyan gave diamond-cut Armenian-made “AWI” watches to some Armenian stylists, whose names we are not publishing yet. By the way, among the favorite brands of the Nikol Pashinyan-Anna Hakobyan couple, “AWI” has occupied its stable place since 2018, when they just came to power.

the people of Nagorno-Karabakh lack medicines, hygiene items, and baby food. The Red Cross is appealing for deliveries to be allowed back into the region. Statements by Russia’s foreign minister give little hope.

According to the International Red Cross (ICRC), the humanitarian situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is disputed between Armenia and Azerbaijan, is coming to a head. Despite ongoing efforts, the International Committee of the Red Cross is currently unable to provide humanitarian aid to the civilian population via the so-called Lachin Corridor or other routes. In a statement, the organization appealed to the relevant decision-makers to allow the ICRC to resume its vital humanitarian work in the area.

Azerbaijan has established a checkpoint on the Lachin Corridor, which controls access to Nagorno-Karabakh via this route.

The dictatorship regime of Azerbaijan refuses to allow the transportation of humanitarian aid through the occupied Berdzor corridor.

Russian peacekeepers have been in negotiations with the Azerbaijani side for several hours, while trucks carrying humanitarian aid remain at the Hakari bridge. Azerbaijan is refusing to allow humanitarian assistance to reach the residents of Artsakh through the Berdzor Corridor, instead demanding the aid go through Akna (Aghdam).

In Baku, Azerbaijan claims that an agreement was reached during the meeting in Brussels to use the road through Akna for supplies to Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). More than 400 tons of humanitarian aid is blocked from reaching 120,000 peaceful civilians of Artsakh who have been blockaded by the terrorist regime for 227 days. The shipment comprises 60 tons of sugar, 40 tons of oil, 100 tons of flour, 80 tons of pasta, 20 tons of powdered milk, 12 tons of baby food, and 9 tons of medication. The contents of the aid trucks for the people of Artsakh were verified in the presence of foreign diplomats, with a representative from the Russian Embassy in Armenia, Maxim Seleznev, participating in the inspection.

Are you a traitor or incompetent?

Two courageous Armenian female journalists fearlessly confronted Nikol Pashinyan during his staged press conference, where the room was filled with so-called journalists who merely manipulated Pashinyan’s words to serve their own agendas.

The parents and relatives of a group of soldiers who went missing during a military operation in Nagorno Karabakh in 2021 held a protest in front of the presidential residence in Yerevan, demanding a meeting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan who has temporarily moved and works at this building.

The protesters, who complain that nothing has been done so far to find out what happed to their sons, blocked Baghramyan Avenue.

“They have been deceiving us for three years, we have no choice but to take this step,” said one of the parents.

It comes after they protested in front of the government building a week ago. Then the parents were promised that a date would be set for a meeting with the prime minister. However, until now, the meeting has not been organized, which has prompted today’s protest.

“They asked us to give them some time, now a week has passed already, and there is no answer. We will not leave until Nikol Pashinyan accepts us. If necessary we will wait for another 10 days,” said another parent.

Hrachik Vardanyan is not happy with the slow progress of a court case looking into how forty members of a sixty-man Armenian military unit were killed or captured during the 2020 Karabakh war.

Vardanyan’s son Aristakes is still listed as missing in action when the unit found itself surrounded by Azerbaijani forces in the town of Kovsakan (Zangilan) in the south of the Artsakh Republic. The area was part of the “liberated territories” outside Nagorno Karabakh proper captured by Azerbaijan during the war. 

Vardanyan and other relatives of those forty Armenian soldiers today gathered outside Yerevan’s Government Building early this morning, demanding a meeting with Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan. They waited in vain.

After the war, a criminal case was initiated regarding the incident. Former Deputy Chief of the General Staff of Armenia’s Armed Forces Andranik Makaryan, commander of the military unit Arsen Abgaryan, chief of staff of the military unit Sargis Kulakchyan and head of the military unit’s recruitment department Ellada Harutyunyan now face charges of incompetence and inaction in the face of danger.

Hrachik Vardanyan tells Hetq it’s not easy to reach Yerevan from the Shirak village of Hatsik to attend the court hearings.

“We come from the villages, drive 100 kilometers. After arriving, there are five minutes of talk and then we’re told today’s session has been postponed,” says a frustrated Vardanyan, adding that he feels like the court system, rather than providing answers, wants to erode the patience of the relatives.

 In 2021, Hrachik Vardanyan’s daughter, fraught with angst over the loss of her brother, died from a heart attack. Another son died in a car accident. His surviving son now lives abroad. 

Mr. Vardanyan says the family found it near impossible to accept the loss of Aristakes, a sadness not assuaged by the court system.  

(The unit in question is an anti-radiation, chemical, and biological protection unit. The unit’s informal name is Kimikneri zoramas).

Source: https://hetq.am/en/article/158303?utm_content=bufferc3772&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer