Some 30 PACE deputies support Nagorno-Karabakh independence

Interfax, Russia
Jan 29 2011

Some 30 PACE deputies support Nagorno-Karabakh independence –
republic’s ministry

YEREVAN. Jan 28

Thirty or so members of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly
(PACE) have signed a declaration recognizing the independence of
Nagorno-Karabakh.

Copies of the declaration, entitled “The Building of a Democratic
State by the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh”, were circulated by a
member of Armenia’s delegation to PACE, Zarui Postandzhyan, on
Thursday, a spokesman for Nagorno-Karabakh’s Foreign Ministry told
Interfax.

According to the document, the current Azeri authorities proclaimed
themselves the successor to the Republic of Azerbaijan that existed
between 1918 and 1920.

However, Nagorno-Karabakh was never part of this republic, and
Nagorno-Karabakh joined the Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan only because
of the Kemal-Bolshevik deal, the declaration says.

In 1991, the people of Nagorno-Karabakh voted in favor of their
independence at a referendum held in the presence of numerous
international observers, it says.

However, having denied the people of Artsakh (the Armenian name for
Nagorno-Karabakh) their legal right to self-determination, Azerbaijan
unleashed a large-scale war, which ended in 1994 by the signing of a
ceasefire agreement, the document says.

Despite Azerbaijan’s constant violations of the ceasefire, ethnic
Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh continue building their
democratic state through peaceful methods and in compliance with
international norms and standards, the most important of which was the
2006 constitutional referendum, it says.

Nagorno-Karabakh has dozens of political parties, media outlets and
non-governmental organizations, a market economy and national
legislation in line with international standards, the declaration
says.

The Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh is a well-established state, which
deserves international recognition and membership in international
organizations, it says.

According to Nagorno-Karabakh’s Foreign Ministry, the PACE deputies
who signed the declaration represent Armenia, France, Greece, Hungary,
Switzerland, Sweden, San Marino and other countries.

From: A. Papazian