South Sudan Self-Determination Referendum Gives Hope to Karabakh Officials

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR), in a statement issued today, welcomes the referendum on the self-determination of South Sudan. The referendum in South Sudan testifies that the recognition and realization of peoples’ inalienable right to self-determination is the most optimal and democratic way of the peaceful settlement of similar conflicts. The conflicts between Ethiopia and Eritrea, Indonesia and East Timor were settled in the same way.

The NKR MFA emphasizes with satisfaction the position of the international community, which has exerted corresponding pressure on the central government in Khartoum and once again expressed its support of the implementation of nations’ right to self-determination as the basis for the declaration and further official recognition of the state independence.

The NKR MFA expresses hope that the referendum in South Sudan will result in the establishment of long-term peace and stability, which will allow to direct efforts to constructive and mutually beneficial cooperation between the countries of the region.

The NKR Foreign Ministry expects fair and firm consistency by the world powers in applying the same approach in relation to the Nagorno-Karabakh and other similar conflicts, in the spirit of “modern tendencies of applying international law and in accordance with the UN General Assembly’s December 2009 Resolution on Peoples’ Universal Right to Self-Determination.”

“In this connection, the NKR MFA reminds that the people of Artsakh [NKR] enjoyed its right to self-determination in 1991, having voted for independence at the referendum, and confirmed its will in 2006, when adopting the NKR Constitution,” reads the statement, which concludes by noting that international recognition of the will of the Nagorno-Karabakh people is the quickest way to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, “to consolidate the stability and security of the South Caucasian region and to create corresponding conditions for establishing civilized relations between the Republic of Artsakh [NKR] and the Republic of Azerbaijan.”

The disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan after a bloody war in the 1990s and is populated mainly by ethnic Armenians. Today it exists as a de-facto independent state under an uneasy ceasefire, and OSCE-brokered efforts to resolve its status have so far been unsuccessful.