in Russian – http://crossroadorg.info/ep-9-10-2020/

Anticipating the possible continuation of the irrepressible aggressive rhetoric of the Azerbaijani authorities into the form of new war crimes even before the July military aggression of Baku in the  Tavush region, the “Crossroad” (Khachmeruk) public organization of sociological and political initiatives wrote a letter on June 16, 2020 to the President of the European Parliament, Mr. David Sassoli. The answer came on September 29 – 3,5 months later (!) – after the third wild and terrorist war unleashed by Azerbaijan against the Armenian people of Artsakh.

The answer came from Ms. Marina Kaljurand, Chair of the European Parliament Delegation for relations with South Caucasus. The answer was short and formal. After the start of new military aggression by Azerbaijan on September 27, “Crossroad” continued to closely monitor the practical actions of this Office, the deputies and the European Parliament as a whole.

On October 10, NGO “Crossroad” sent a detailed response to Ms. Kaljurand urging her to discuss the issues online. We publish below the English version of the text of the letter. The author of the text is A.S. Manasyan.

To: Marina Kaljurand, Chair of the European Parliament Delegation for relations with South Caucasus

(copy to the members of the EP)

Re: D 102542,  23.09.2020 (was emailed on Sept 29, 2020)

Dear Ms. Kaljurand,

Thank you for your response to our letter dated June 16. In your letter of September 29, 2020 you are writing that “neither the European Union, nor the international community at large, recognizes the so-called “Republic of Artsakh…” We understand your attitude to the issue. We also understand the continuation of the fallacy of the argumentation of such attitude and such erroneous expertise, which is imposed on the European Parliament by the official structure headed by you.

The matter of the fact is that during the collapse of the USSR in 1991 the West decided to recognize the new states in the post-Soviet area within their borders as former Soviet republics out of concern for further complications. Thus, after the USSR collapse the Republic of Azerbaijan was recognized within the borders of the former Soviet Azerbaijan, where in the Soviet period а genocidal policy was carried out towards the Armenian population of the republic and where in 1991 the Karabakh war broke out. (Letter of 132 world known public figures, July 27, 1990 https://aga-tribunal.info/open_27-7-1990_en/) Nevertheless, Europe considered this peculiarity of the problem and took the conflict resolution under its auspices hoping for the Europeanization of Azerbaijan. However, the Ankara-oriented post-soviet Baku, kept abiding by the course of the same genocidal policy against the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. Being deprived of Moscow’s support, Azerbaijan suffered a defeat in the war which it imposed on Artsakh and was forced to sign the Bishkek Ceasefire Protocol in May, 1994. (http://www.usazeris.org/ArmeniaAzerbaijanCeasefireAgreementBishkekProtocol1994.pdf).

The OSCE continued to seek for political ways of resolution, and meanwhile from the negotiation process some key historical, political and legal facts were removed, which carry the truth about the essence of the conflict and which can and should become a reliable basis for the solution of the problem. The root of the current disasters lies in the imprudent recognition of post-soviet Azerbaijan within the borders of Azerbaijan SSR (AzSSR), established in the 1920s by Bolshevik arbitrariness. It is the time to correct this mistake of 1991, having caused tens of thousands of people’s death, and to reckon with the following generally known facts:

– The modern Republic of Azerbaijan appeared on the basis of the former AzSSR, the borders of which were determined not by a self-determination act, but from the outside, by the Bolsheviks’ Leninist phalanx, which forcibly tore away Nakhichevan and Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) from Armenia and included them within the borders of AzSSR. In order to avoid protest actions of Armenians of Karabakh, it was decided to grant broad regional autonomy to Nagorno-Karabakh (Nagorno-Karabakh in international law and world politics. M., 2008, vol. I, p. 639. Ed. by D.J.S. Yu.G. Barsegov).

– During the Soviet period a policy of ousting Armenians from the republic was systematically pursued in AzSSR. The Baku authorities sent almost all the 18 years and older male population of the Karabakh autonomous region to the World War II frontline, half of which died in the war (Azerbaijanis of the republic were sent several times less in percentage terms). By the 1980s, Baku had carried out an almost complete dearmenization of Nakhichevan. Its policy took bloody forms in 1988, when the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians appealed to Baku, Yerevan and Moscow with a request to transfer the region to Armenia. Baku responded to the request with the Genocide of Armenians in Sumgait, and later throughout the whole AzSSR. The response to the request was genocide!

– During the USSR collapse, as early as December 16, 1991, the West defined the borders of the Republic of Azerbaijan, recognizing it within the borders of the former AzSSR. This was done again from outside (!), again without self-determination and referendum! Unlike Azerbaijan, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR, the Republic of Artsakh) declared independence in full compliance with international law and the laws of the USSR. The referendum on the independence of the NKR on December 10, 1991 took place under shelling and bombing.

– Europe does not recognize the right to full self-determination of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh regardless of the fact that in 1990 the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the highest legislative body of the Soviet Union, recognized this right by the USSR Law “On the procedure for resolving issues related to the secession of the union republic from the USSR” (State papers of the Congress of People’s Deputies of the USSR and the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, 1990, N 15, Article 252). Deputies from AzSSR also voted for this Law. Europe inexplicably does not recognize the elections to form the power structures of the NKR, although at the Helsinki additional meeting of the CSCE Council on March 24, 1992 it was decided to invite elected and other representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh to the Minsk conference. Let us admit that it is impossible to have elected representatives without their election.

– In March 1992, the Republic of Azerbaijan was admitted to the UN within the borders of the former Azerbaijan SSR and is still recognized within these borders. However, the political act of recognition is not a legal act and does not invalidate the existing agreements and legal documents adopted regarding Nagorno-Karabakh and Nakhichevan. According to these legal grounds, the territories where the Republic of Artsakh was established and is now exercising the state power, do not belong to the Republic of Azerbaijan.

– Recognition of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the illegitimate borders of AzSSR was understood in Baku as approval of the continuation of the genocidal policy, and they unleashed a war against the NKR three times: in 1991-1994, in 2016 and in 2020. NKR in the first war that was imposed on it liberated the territories of Nagorno-Karabakh (and not just “around it”, as they often say in Europe; look at the map!), which, according to legal grounds, in the 1920s should have been included in the Armenian autonomous region. In the second war, the NKR defended its borders and now continues to defend these borders in the ongoing third war. We repeat: Armenians defend territories that were supposed to be part of the Armenian region, but were previously illegally separated from it.

All demands and calls by the international community to end the third in 30 years treacherous military aggression committed by Azerbaijan against the Armenian people of the Republic of Artsakh are cynically rejected by the triple alliance of Turkey, Azerbaijan and terrorist organizations brought by Baku from outside.

Therefore, supporting the Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh of October 3 (http://www.nkr.am/en/news/2020-10-03/mfa-statement-recognition), we do urge the European Parliament and the international community to recognize the independence of the Republic of Artsakh in order to correct the above-described mistake and to ensure the rights of the citizens of Artsakh to life and peaceful development. In the current situation, the international recognition of Artsakh is the only effective mechanism to restore peace and security in the region.

Our public organization ” Crossroad” offers to organize an online discussion with you or your colleagues at a convenient time for you. In the three and a half months between the previous letter we’ve sent and your reply, several new large-scale bloody crimes committed by Azerbaijan against the Armenian people of Artsakh took place, they started a new terrorist war. Therefore, it is very important to conduct the discussion using modern methods, and not be limited to formal replies.

Thank you again for your response to our previous letter and hope for your understanding of the importance of the above.

This information in other resources:

• “Armenian community in Russia” group in Facebook
• “Ararat Armenian Forum” group in Facebook