SPEECH BY H. E. MR. ROBERT KOCHARIAN, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA AT THE ARGENTINEAN COUNCI
Support A1+!(BUENOS AIRES, 3 MAY 2002)
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Through a foreign policy of complementarity Armenia has succeeded in working effectively with our neighbors, with regional powers and with Russia, the United States and Europe. Instead of trying to gain from colliding interests of great powers, we aim at gaining from finding ways to ease tensions and conflate their interests. This policy also consolidates our political and economic integration within various international and regional structures.
The OSCE is entrusted with helping with the resolution of the most difficult challenge facing us today: the problem of Nagorno Karabagh. This is the story of a people who have been denied their right to self-determination by the Soviet and the Azerbaijani authorities. They have been subjected to the danger of physical extermination. The people of Nagorno Karabagh have not only protected their legitimate rights, but have also erected sound structures of self-rule. This is what has in fact taken place: as a result of the collapse of the USSR, on the territory of a former Azerbaijani province, two independent states have been formed: the Republic of Nagorno Karabagh and the Republic of Azerbaijan. The legal basis for the creation of the Republic of Nagorno Karabagh is faultless, and we are prepared to discuss the resolution of the conflict in legal terms. The borders between these two states essentially correspond to the historic divisions between Armenian and Azerbaijani demographic habitation patterns. We recognize the right of the people of Nagorno Karabagh to self-determination and self-defence. We do not see this as a violation of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, since Nagorno Karabagh has never been a part of an independent Azerbaijani state. Moreover, we would view any attempts to overtake Nagorno Karabagh as aggression with the aim of illegally capturing other’s territory.
What makes the Nagorno Karabagh conflict distinct from others is that the cease-fire achieved between the parties eight years ago has been holding without any outside forces. Armenia remains committed to the peaceful resolution of the conflict through the negotiations process within the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The efforts of the mediators, their co-chair countries, Russia, France and the United States, resulted last year in the Paris principles, which appropriately reflect the boundaries of compromise. I am certain that a lasting peace in the region can be reached on the basis of these principles.
Armenia maintains its policy of promoting good relations and co-operation with the countries neighbouring the region. Iran has throughout all these years remained an important partner for Armenia. We greatly value our southern neighbour’s balanced approach to our regional affairs.
Armenia’s relations with Turkey remain hostage to the latter’s uncompromising bias towards Azerbaijan and an ongoing blockade of Armenia. We have called and continue to call on Turkey to embark on relations with Armenia with no preconditions. Turkey’s continuing refusal to recognise the Armenian Genocide of 1915 remains a psychological and political barrier that must be transcended. We have had a difficult past. As long as Turkey continues to deny that past, our reconciliation remains hostage to mistrust.
Armenia’s strategic partnership and alliance with Russia reflect the traditional friendship between our two nations, as well as our interest in enhancing regional security without disrupting the traditional balance of power. Attempts to ignore Russia’s interests in the region endanger our regional security structures. Our security co-operation with Russia exists both at the bilateral level and within the framework of the Collective Security Treaty among six former Soviet states. Parallelly, we have been successfully developing security co-operation with NATO within the Partnership for Peace programme. At present we are setting out the outlines of our military co-operation with the United States. The emergence of military cooperation with the United States in our region may become an effective instrument for combating new threats to our security and complementing the existing structures. Such developments are taking place in the context of a growing co-operation between Russia and NATO, Russia and the United States.
In a world where distances matter less and less, the distance between Armenia and Argentina will no longer be as significant to our relationship, as our common programs for economic cooperation, our political goodwill and our belief in our peoples’ determination to overcome all odds.
