YEREVAN. – The Geopolitica monthly magazine of Italy has published an article by Armenia’s Ambassador to Italy, Ruben Karapetyan, which is entitled “On the Inevitability of International Recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s Independence.”

The article provides a brief historical rundown of the mechanisms for the people’s right for self-determination in the 20th century, the factors that have brought about the emergence of new countries, and the overall historical dynamics in this regard, Armenian MFA press service informs. 

In his article, Ruben Karapetyan presents the Soviet Azerbaijan authorities’ policy of national discrimination against the Armenians, who formed the majority in Nagorno-Karabakh. Also, he reflects on the solid legal grounds for the international recognition of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s (NKR) independence.  

Armenia’s Ambassador considers unpromising the current Azerbaijani authorities’ refusal to accept the NKR people’s independence, which they have achieved over twenty years ago. At the same time, Karapetyan stresses that the international community’s “balanced approach” gives official Baku grounds for making erroneous interpretations.

Ambassador Karapetyan notes that the recognition of NKR’s independence is inevitable because it is impossible to speak in favor of the protection of human rights, on the one hand, and to defend the funniest remainder of the “Stalin legacy”—that is, Karabakh’s annexation to Azerbaijan—on the other hand. According to Karapetyan, it is also impossible to preach democracy, on the one hand, and to place upon an equal scale the rights of the democratic NKR people and the interests of energy-rich but dictatorial Azerbaijan.