MOSCOW (Noyan Tapan)–The Moscow-based Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper recently published and article by Rouben Zargarian titled "NKR Has Grounds to Become a UN Member."
The author of the article regarded the emergence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and the Republic of Azerbaijan as a result of Azerbaijan’s secession from the USSR–pointing out that Nagorno-Karabakh has the same rights to be recognized as an independent state as Azerbaijan. He made reference to many similar precedents in world history–emphasizing the fact that NKR was established following the referendum held according to international laws and Soviet legislation.
Zargarian said that Nagorno-Karabakh has all the basic features of an independent state: independent and representative government–a majority of Armenian population in its territory–the establishment of independence through referendum–the presence of legitimate authorities and their control over the entire NKR territory–capability for self-defense. According to the author–all these mean that Nagorno-Karabakh has the right to become a United Nations member.
Radio Liberty reported that in the same issue experts of the Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper pointed out that the status quo established following the cease-fire in 1994 is unacceptable to both parties to the conflict. From the point of view of international law–the essence of the Karabakh conflict is regarded as the clash between the territorial integrity principle and the right of people to self-determination. Since the two principles are stipulated by the UN and OSCE’s basic documen’s–the decision of the issue of their real correlation is mostly dependent on the political situation–and–above all–on the factor of support of one of the conflicting parties by the international community. Hence–it is impossible to find the radical solution to the problem proceeding from only one of these principles–as–first–none of the conflicting parties can impose its will on the other–secondly–any decision made to the detriment of one of the conflicting parties will not be accepted by this party.
The authors of the article concluded that the Karabakh problem can be solved only through compromise between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The most advisable solution is the establishment of joint governing in Nagorno-Karabakh–the introduction of condominiums. The experts suggested that NKR should be both within Armenia and Azerbaijan and should be turned into an autonomy. Its residents should be given dual citizenship. The Russian experts also suggested a stage-by-stage program of actions–the realization of which will–they felt–in the best way promote the success of the suggested model.
