A Trip to Karabakh (Georgia, 2005)

Screenshot from A Trip to Karabakh

Without it, Nagorno Karabakh would remain an isolated enclave.

There were no losses on the Karabakh side.

Armenia remains committed to the peaceful resolution of the Nagorny Karabakh conflict.

We remind the General Assembly that Armenia is negotiating on behalf of Nagorny Karabakh within the OSCE Minsk group framework because Azerbaijan refuses to negotiate directly with the authorities of Nagorny Karabakh.

The action plans of the Armenian Government include militaristic provisions regarding Nagorno Karabakh, while the leaders of Armenia make irresponsible statements saying that Nagorno Karabakh will never be a part of Azerbaijan.

The Sumgait events were organized with a view to hushing up and concealing the Nagorno Karabagh problem.

The co chairs have noted that Lachin has been treated as a separate case in previous negotiations. This is because Lachin is Nagorno Karabakh's humanitarian and security corridor.

Statement of the Press Service of the Defence Ministry of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic

Of the nine political parties in Nagorno Karabakh, eight nominated candidates.

There are excessively large numbers of settlers in the territories surrounding Nagorno Karabakh.

It had been said that the people of Nagorno Karabakh did not have the right to self determination.

The Nagorno Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts now have become zones of operation for different international terrorist organizations.

Previous elections to the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh legislative body were held in 1995 and 2000.

Armenia also wishes to thank the authorities of Nagorno Karabakh for their logistical and practical contributions to the success of the Mission.

The secession of Nagorno Karabakh from Azerbaijan during the Soviet era was legal, peaceful and just and carried out through referendum.

The issue had never been between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but between Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh.

The Press Service of the Defence Ministry of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic warns once again that any actions of the Azerbaijani party that threaten the security of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic and can lead to the destabilization of the situation in the Azerbaijani Karabakh conflict zone will be resolutely suppressed.

In response to the claim that Nagorno Karabakh had never formed part of Azerbaijan but had been forcibly annexed by Stalin, he stated that Karabakh had always been part of historical Azerbaijan and had been populated by Azerbaijanis.

Beginning in 1989 the Parliament of Armenia adopted a number of unlawful acts on the unification of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.

The impudence of the aggressor has gone so far that it has established a post called president of the Nagorno Karabakh republic and tries to legitimize it.

Law and order are not just desirable but also necessary for Nagorno Karabakh, even if its final status is still undetermined.

But, given Armenia s alliance with Russia and Azerbaijan s close ties with Turkey, an eruption over Karabakh could very well escalate regionally.

I have the honour to forward to you, herewith, a statement issued by the Press Service of the Ministry of Defence of Nagorno Karabakh on 8 March 2005 (see annex).

The servicemen in the Karabakh forces who were on duty noted the actions of the Azerbaijani intelligence diversionary group and took the necessary steps to neutralize it.

In fact, Nagorno Karabakh had been subjected to the jurisdiction of Azerbaijan by force, so it had never been deprived of its inherent right to self determination.

The Azerbaijani leadership, then and now, never expressed remorse over the ethnic cleansing and massacres of the Armenians of Azerbaijan or the Armenians of Karabagh.

The obvious locations, or destinations, are in South Ossetia, Transdniestria and Nagorny Karabakh as Council members know, we have been active in those places.

The summit will have succeeded, the OSCE will have succeeded, and Karabakh will cease to be a synonym for conflict, but a laboratory for peace.

Meanwhile, at every step Armenia has demonstrated its willingness and readiness to cooperate, wherever possible, and to work towards finding a lasting solution to the Nagorno Karabagh conflict.

The Press Service of the Defence Ministry of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic appeals to the Azerbaijani side to strictly follow the ceasefire regime and not to threaten the peace and security in the region.

In that context, his Government had repeatedly expressed a willingness to grant Nagorno Karabakh the highest degree of self rule within Azerbaijan.

Elections in Nagorno Karabakh are held with the intent to secure the self governance of the population living within its territory and strengthen the democratic institutions, which is encouraged by the international community at large.

Another risk in the South Caucasus is that Russia (with Armenian support) will recognize Nagorno Karabakh s self proclaimed independence from Azerbaijan.

To explain its opposition to the independence of Karabakh, Azerbaijan had invoked its territorial integrity yet such claims did not appear to be legally valid.

With the occupation of Shusha, which historically has always been the capital city of the entire Karabakh region, the Armenian nationalists completed the full ethnic cleansing of this region of Azerbaijan.

Shusha was founded in 1756 on the ancient place of settlement of Azerbaijanis as the capital of the independent Karabakh khanate by its ruler, the outstanding State figure Panahali Khan Javanshir.

Resolving the Nagorno Karabakh conflict peacefully requires two parallel steps a guarantee of non resumption of military hostilities, and a clear, mutually binding blueprint for reaching a final settlement.

However, the fall of the Soviet Union, and the Nagorno Karabakh War during the 1990s, damaged the tourist industry and the image of Azerbaijan as a tourist destination.

The people of Nagorny Karabakh have exercised their right to self determination, in accordance with the principles of international law, just as that right has been exercised in recent years by certain countries represented here.

C. Concerns and recommendations The Committee notes the position of the State party that, despite the negative effects of the conflict in the Nagorny Karabakh region, persons of Armenian origin do not experience discrimination in Azerbaijan.

Those resolutions rendered any dispute over the State to which Nagorno Karabakh belonged, or the right of its population to secede, a completely futile and senseless exercise.

These documents enshrine the facts of occupation of the territories of Azerbaijan by the armed forces of Armenia, the control of the Nagorno Karabakh region by the separatist forces and the perpetration of ethnic cleansing in the occupied territories.

Looking to buy drugs, a group of young Georgian men cross the border into Nagorno Karabakh the region between Armenia and Azerbaijan contested since the fall of the Soviet Union but end up being detained by local authorities.