Karabakh declared independence on same grounds as Kosovo – Armenian MP

The people of Nagorno-Karabakh declared their independence in accordance with all international norms, Armenian National Assembly (NA) MP and Prosperous Armenia Party NA Faction Secretary Naira Zohrabyan stated at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) winter session.

“By making use of the key international norm of the right of self-determination of nations, Kosovo declared its independence, and today 34 [Council of Europe] CoE member and 22 EU member states recognize Kosovo’s independence,” Zohrabyan noted, and added:

“This notwithstanding, Mr. Von Sidov’s report compels me to draw parallels between [Kosovo and] Nagorno Karabakh, another European yet still unrecognized state, which declared independence on the same grounds as Kosovo. Furthermore, not being a CoE member, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic has assumed numerous CoE commitments on its own volition.

I am hopeful that the time is not too far away when the Council of Europe will recognize that an unresolved conflict cannot justify any violation of human rights, and that there are people in Nagorno-Karabakh who have the same rights as each and every one of us who sit here.

I want to believe that the authorities and people of Kosovo will attempt to build a truly democratic state. A state which still-unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic builds today.”