MONTREAL—The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Georgi Petrosian, visited Canada upon an invitation by the Armenian National Committee of Canada.
During his visit, Petrosian addressed the Canadian-Armenian communities of Toronto, Cambridge, Ottawa, Montreal and Laval from February 17 to 24.
The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Minister had the opportunity to meet with a number of Federal, Provincial and municipal level officials. In Toronto, Petrosian had an meeting with Paul Calandra Conservative federal Member of Parliament followed by a meeting with Doug Craig, Mayor of the City of Cambridge, Ontario.
At the Armenian Community Centre in Cambridge, the Minister met with Harold Albrecht federal MP, Chair of the Canadian-Armenian parliamentary friendship group. In Quebec, Petrosian met with Liberal federal MP Stephane Dion in the Armenian Community Center of Montreal. He also met with federal Bloc Quebecois party leader, Gilles Duceppe, at the leaders’ office. The minister had a cordial meeting with Bloc Quebecois Members of Parliament, Nicole Demers and Jean Dorion. The visiting Minister concluded his trip with a final meeting with the mayor of the City of Laval, Gilles Vaillancourt, that was held in the City Hall.
Georgy Petrosyan has been in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic government of since its independence and has been foreign minister of the republic since 2007. Although the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is not officially recognized as an independent state, it is in every respect an ipso facto independent state functioning as a democratic, self-governing republic.
It has been a de facto independent state since 1991 following a public referendum. The territory had been annexed artificially to Azerbaijan as an autonomous region since 1921 by the divisive policy of Stalin. That annexation was never accepted by the population of the region, predominantly Armenian, and the resultant enmity invited constant pogroms towards the ethnic Armenians by the Azeri authorities.
During the process of the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the untenable situation culminated in a massive revolt, the violent military suppression of which resulted in a full-scale war between Azerbaijan and the Armenians. The creation of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic with its present borders was the result of that war.
Thus, the Republic was created in response to human rights violations and repressions of a people to incite to exercise the right of self-determination. Negotiations have been going on since a ceasefire was imposed seventeen years ago for the official international status. The Republic functions completely independently from Azerbaijan, it fulfills all of the conditions and human rights reasons as Kosovo or Abkhazia or South Ossetia and South Sudan.
The ANCC is the largest and the most influential Canadian-Armenian grassroots political organization. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout Canada and affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCC actively advances the concerns of the Canadian-Armenian community on a broad range of issues.
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world should be kept informed, that criminal regime in Baku is trying once aging to get Karabakh back with direct military support of Turkey!
When are they gonna recognize NKR?! Armenia, and the rest, it’s time!
ABSOLUTLY NO MORE TALKING BETWEEN ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN!
THIS IS BETWEEN ARTSAKH AND AZERBAIJAN..TALK TO THE PEOPLE!
As a senior consultant for high level government officials in developing countries, two years ago I had the pleasure of visiting Artsakh on a training mission. I also had the pleasure of meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Georgi Petrosian, and other high level officials. From my experience, I found this newly independent country to be highly functional, with efficient and effective government institutions. I was equally impressed by the aspirations of its people and their high spirit in building a new country. Therefore, there should be no dispute over Artsakh being an independent and free country. The right for self determination is supreme over any other rights, including the so called territorial integrity the Azeri leaders use as an alibi for the return of the liberated territories. We do not have to go back far in history to see the disintegration of the Soviet empire. Based on the aspiration for independence from its satellite states, today there are 15 independent countries, and Artsakh should be an addition. Look at recent similar examples: Eritrea, Kosovo, Southern Sudan and many other countries in the world who are today independent. Why should Artsakh be any different? In fact, the Azeris must take an example from this small neighbouring independent state and run their country in an orderly and democratic manner. As for the current negotiations taking place between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the government of Artsakh should be directly involved in the negotiation process as they are the main stakeholders. Armenia can only act proxy-negotiators for so long. It is high time to get Artsakh included in the negotiation process.
Long live Free Artsakh!