Vartan Oskanian: The PILPG memorandum sets forth the argument that the “Armenian people of Nagorno-Karabakh are entitled, at a minimum, to the right of internal self-determination and that the current negotiations should provide for the meaningful and effective protection of this right
Last week, the Washington based Public International Law and Policy Group (PILPG), specializing in providing legal assistance to parties involved in peace negotiations, drafting post-conflict constitutions, and war crimes prosecution/transitional justice, and with the experience of having provided legal assistance to over two dozen peace negotiations throughout the globe, has published recently a memorandum on talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan, with a focus and emphasis on the issue of Nagorno Karabakh.
The PILPG memorandum sets forth the argument that the “Armenian people of Nagorno-Karabakh are entitled, at a minimum, to the right of internal self-determination and that the current negotiations should provide for the meaningful and effective protection of this right. As such, Nagorno-Karabakh’s Soviet era autonomous status shall serve as a benchmark for discussions between Armenia and Azerbaijan concerning the future fate and status of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.”
The PILPG memorandum goes on to conclude that if Azerbaijan refuses to include on the agenda of the ongoing talks Nagorno-Karabakh’s Soviet era autonomous status as a benchmark for the right of the people of Nagorno Karabakh to self-determination and for discussions between Armenia and Azerbaijan concerning their future fate and status, will be a clear signal of a continued rejection of that right for the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, and this opens the door to the possibility of external self-determination via remedial secession.
