Can European Parliament Resolution Complement OSCE’s Mission?

The threat to erase the identity of Armenia’s cultural heritage has direct relevance for the physical existence of the Armenians in the same areas. On December 7, 2021, the International Court of Justice issued a ruling which, in essence, targeted Armenia and Azerbaijan but zeroed in particularly on the latter’s actions, as the court had found there is an imminent risk of irreparable harm to the rights of Armenians under the “International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination” and ordered Azerbaijan to: “protect from violence and bodily harm all persons captured and detained in relation to the military conflict of 2020, as well as to ensure their security and equality before the law.”

The symbolic and symptomatic actions of convicted Azerbaijani murderer Ramil Safarov and the documented torture and dehumanization of Armenian POWs do not leave any room to doubt Azerbaijan’s state-sponsored policy of hatred against Armenians.

These facts have to lead the international authorities and particularly the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to understand that under any condition, Armenian life is not safe under Azerbaijani control, in any shape or form.

This realization has to lead the OSCE co-chairs to consider, in Karabakh’s case, remedial seccession, the same principle of security under international law for minorities which was effectively used in Kosovo, South Sudan and East Timor to create independent nations.

The international community had arrived at the conclusion that the minority’s life was no longer safe in an alien majority. It therefore justified the minority’s secession from the majority and the former’s ultimate independence.

This brings the issue of Karabakh once again to the doorstep of the OSCE, as much as the latter has its hands full with the war raging in Europe.

Turkey and Azerbaijan have coordinated their actions to force Armenia into a corner and extract concessions which Armenia would not accept under normal conditions, now that the OSCE’s and the world’s attention are focused on Ukraine.

The OSCE Minsk Group thus far has maintained that the 44-day war has not resolved the status issue of Karabakh, and that it should be solved under the principles adopted through Helsinki’s Final Act, which calls for resolving conflicts through peaceful means, without the use of force. Those principles also propose to reconcile the principles of territorial integrity and the right to self-determination. It is a challenge to the Armenian diplomacy to integrate the principle of the right to “separate for security” with the right to self-determination.

While the resolution at the European Parliament was making headways in diplomatic circles, Armenia and Turkey were in the process of negotiations to establish diplomatic relations, to lift the blockade and open roads and lines of communication.

Although the sides began negotiating without preconditions, this column had predicted that the Turkish side had to coordinate its comments with the Azerbaijani government, and lo and behold, that has come true. The move constituted Turkish preconditions which supposedly were not there. During these negotiations, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavusoglu had suggested that it is better for Armenia to respond positively to Azerbaijan’s peace proposal. Parallel to these negotiations, Azerbaijan proposed a five-point peace plan, which practically defies Turkey’s pledge to negotiate with Armenia without preconditions. Basically, Baku has presented an ultimatum for Armenia to recognize its territorial integrity without entertaining any hopes for the future of the people in Karabakh and recognition for Karabakh as an entity. Turkey and Azerbaijan have coordinated their act to move any settlement away from OSCE to avoid the application of the principles of the Minsk Group. This so-called peace plan does nothing but move the negotiations to a dead-end. Ankara and Baku believe that as the OSCE is fully engaged in Ukraine, this is the opportune time to keep that organization away from the negotiations.

Nevertheless, it looks like the ball is moving into the court of the OSCE, which has made a positive statement to a question from Armenpress, stating, “The Polish OSCE chairmanship considers the protection of all historical and cultural monuments as our joint commitment. The preservation of Armenian historical and cultural monuments has been on the agenda of the Permanent Council. Against this backdrop, the Polish OSCE Chairmanship fully supports all relevant OSCE structures, including the OSCE Minsk Group and its cochairs in their endeavors towards achieving a comprehensive and lasting peace. It would considerably improve the security, stability and prosperity of the entire region and safeguard the protection of all historical and cultural monuments.”

Opportunities appear and disappear in international relations. It is up to organized and perceptive foreign policy establishments to rise to the occasion and take advantage of such opportunities.

The current situation is a challenge to the Armenian Foreign Ministry, which we hope will detect opportunities and take positive actions.