A number of important conclusions can be drawn from the five-day war and resultant recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia by Russia last year in the context of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Masis Mailyan, the former NKR deputy minister of foreign affairs, told NEWS.am

“First, the five-day war, with Russia involved in it, sobered up the hotheads in Azerbaijan, where the warlike rhetoric had been gaining momentum year by year. During the first hours of the war, when Georgia was exceeding in strength, Azerbaijan was kind of encouraging Tbilisi’s actions and making appeals for resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh problem in a similar way. However, the introduction of the 58th army of Russia into the conflict zone put an end to that rhetoric. Azerbaijan must have come to realize that the problem is not to be resolved by force.

”Secondly, it was for the first time since 1991 that two new states had been recognized in the post-Soviet area, which was against the will of the former “parent state.” As we know, after the USSR collapsed, the international community made a purely political decision to recognize only the 15 former Soviet republics as independent states, while the rest entities (autonomies, regions, etc..) remained outside that process. During that period, for fear of anarchy in the post-Soviet area, they only recognized 15 states. In 2008, seventeen years later, the process of recognizing state entities of the “second level” got under way. The process is of great interest to Nagorno-Karabakh, as precedents are being set opening up new opportunities for the NKR to get internationally recognized in defiance of Azerbaijan, which is not ready to recognize the Nagorno-Karabakh people’s fundamental rights. Interestingly, a few months before Russia recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia, last February, a precedent was set in former Yugoslavia: Kosovo was recognized. We can conclude that neither the West nor Russia – both the centers of global politics – rules out the possibility of recognizing new states in defiance of the former “parent states.”

“The experience of settling the conflicts in the Balkan Peninsula showed Russia that it is only ethno-territorial division that makes peaceful and conflict-free co-existence possible. At present, more and more countries interested in settling conflict in peaceful ways arrive at the conclusion that it is much more &‘secure and cheaper’ to recognize &‘unrecognized’ states’ right to political sovereignty than subdue them to hostile &‘parent states.’ They understand that subduing them will result in new global and regional security problems.

&‘Nagorno-Karabakh is also interested in the mechanism of ensuring the security of unrecognized states, as the issue of security of Artsakh’s native Armenian population (autochthons) is the cornerstone of our relations with Azerbaijan. International recognition is a most important factor of security for Nagorno-Karabakh – not only a military, but also political and diplomatic one.

’After recognizing the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Russia introduced additional troops into the territories. An agreement establishing military bases was signed, which means that no military way of settling the conflict is possible. One can hardly expect small Georgia to attack Russia or its military bases. So the security of the territories in question is guaranteed.

Another important lesson for the NKR is peacemakers’ having been incapable of putting an end to hostilities in South Ossetia and ensuring the population’s security. That peace-making mechanism proved ineffective. It was not until Russia introduced its regular troops into the region under the pretext of protecting its citizens that the situation was brought under control,” Mailyan said.