Armenia`s premier facing legal barriers to recognition of Artsakh as  part of Azerbaijan - Levon Zurabyan

ArmInfo. To justify his policy of surrendering Artsakh to Azerbaijan, Armenia's Premier Nikol  Pashinyan resorted to a ploy at his press conference on  May 22, Levon Zurabyan, Vice-Chairman of the Armenian National Congress (ANC), has stated.  

He points out two legal barriers to the recognition of Artsakh as  part of Azerbaijan by Armenia's premier. 

"First, Armenia ratified the Almaty declaration on the CIS with ten  reservations, with one of them reading that Armenia recognized  Azerbaijan's territorial integrity without the Nagorno-Karabakh  autonomous region. 

"Secondly, in 1992, Armenia's Parliament approved a special decision  on the unacceptability of 'considering any international or national  documents mentioning Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaiajn'," Mr  Zurabyan said.  

The two legal norms remain in effect, and to sign any document ceding  Artsakh to Azerbaijan, Armenia's premier is first of all supposed to  have the documents invalidated by Armenia's Parliament (in this  particular case, it is annulling the reservations). Otherwise, the  premier signing a treaty of cession of Artsakh to Azerbaijan would be  a violation of the Agreement, as it would be in conflict with a  decision by the Supreme Body of a democratic government. 

"Nikol Pashinyan is also aware of the fact that, despite having an  absolute majority in Armenia's Parliament, he cannot submit such  draft decisions to Parliament as it would cause a revolution in the  country. So he is going to violate the Constitution and, as is his  custom, later accuse the former authorities of violating the  Constitution. 

"So at his press conference on May 22, Pashinyan said: 'In 1989, the  Supreme Council of Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh regional council  approved a decision on unification of Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia.  In 1990, Armenia adopted an Independence Declaration, referring to  that decision as well.' Then, Pashinyan claimed that the declaration  of Nagorno-Karabakh's independence, as well as the positions of  Armenia's former leaders on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement  (they did not view Artsakh as part of Armenia) were in conflict with  the Declaration of Independence related to the unification of Artsakh  with Armenia and to the treaty related to the Declaration of  Independence," Mr Zurabyan said. At first sight it seems logical, but  Armenia's premier is lying, he added. 

Mr Zurabyan goes on, stating that the Constitution was adopted in  1995 and referred to the Declaration of Independence, which contains  the following words: "as a basis the fundamental principles of the  Armenian Statehood and the nation-wide objectives enshrined in the  Declaration on the Independence of Armenia." 

In other words, it is not the Declaration of Independence as a final  text, but the "fundamental principles.and the nation-wide objectives"  having nothing in common with the decision on unification, the  Constitution deals with. 

"And the Declaration of Independence referred to the decision on  unification for the following reason:  Armenia announced its  intention to become independent of the Soviet Union, united with  Nagorno- Karabakh. Moreover, the vote was to be legally based, as,  based on the decision on unification, only 10 of 260 members of the  Supreme Council represented Artsakh. Thus, Armenia's Constitution by  no means legalized the decision on unification, whereas the former  Armenian authorities' positions on Nagorno- Karabakh were not in  conflict with the Constitution," Mr Zurabyan states. 

He emphasizes one more fact: Soviet legal norms were still in effect  in Armenia when the decision on unification and the Declaration were  adopted. 

"In 1991, before the USSR disintegration, the USSR Constitutional  Supervision canceled both the decision on unification  Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia and the decision on dissolution of the  Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous region by the Supreme Council of  Azerbaijan. In other words, legally, the decision on unification was  not longer in force and cannot even theoretically remain a  constitutional legal norm in independent Armenia," Mr Zurabyan said. 

As to the Armenian premier's slogan "separation for salvation" during  his election campaign in 2021a reporter reminded him of, Mr Pashinyan  asked: "Separation from whom?"

"After his question I even thought he actually meant separation of  Karabakh from Armenia and its cession to Azerbaijan. He asked the  same question several times at his press conference. So Armenia's  premier turns out to be not knowing the answer. 

"Nagorno-Karabakh's goal had always been independence from  Azerbaijan. In the Soviet Union the most important aspect of that  struggle was a demand for uniting with Armenia because the USSR  Constitution provided for a mechanism for an autonomous region's  secession from one of the Soviet republics and accession to another.  And that was the only legal mechanism of secession," Mr Zurabyan  said. 

After the USSR disintegration, when the world recognized 15 former  Soviet republics as independent states, the only international legal  way of seceding from Azerbaijan was declaring independence based on  the principle of people's free self-determination enshrined in the  Helsinki Final Act of 1975. Had that principle been followed, the  international community would view Armenia as a country having  territorial claims on its neighbor, which is a violation of  territorial integrity. 

"It was due to delicate diplomacy that we were able to avert  dangerous developments back in 1997 and get an international  settlement plan Azerbaijan agreed to as well, which opened the door  to international recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh's independence. And  that door was shut only because of an adventurist and maximalist  policy, which climaxed with Nikol Pashinyan's disastrous governance.  

"Disclosing Nikol Pashinyan's lies and manipulations must become an  all-important task because it is these lies and manipulations that  have until now enabled him to continue his disastrous governance," Mr  Zurabyan stated.