Levon Ter-Petrosyan Issues Statement

Levon Ter-Petrosyan has issued a statement, which was published on ilur.am. On October 7, 2023, the Geneva City Council adopted a decision condemning Azerbaijan's military aggression, recognizing the right of the Artsakh people to self-determination, and enforcing the freezing of the Aliyev family's assets in Switzerland.

At first glance, one might wonder what significance a decision from a city council could have among so many similar resolutions. However, this is only the first impression. The decision of the Geneva City Council contains a formulation that is unprecedented among such declarations. The following point is referred to: 'The Geneva City Council recognizes the right of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh to self-determination as the only guarantee of its security.'

In essence, the formulation of 'the only guarantee of security' is nothing more than the first acknowledgment of the necessity to apply the doctrine of 'separation for salvation' within the framework of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution methodology. The essence of this doctrine is as follows: when a state systematically violates the civil rights of an ethnoterritorial minority within its territory on grounds of racial, national, religious, and other intolerance, resorts to violence, and threatens extermination or displacement, the international community, considering the coexistence of these peoples impossible, is obliged to forcibly separate the territory occupied by that minority from the given state, for the preservation of the minority's existence.

Deeming it unnecessary to delve into the details reflected in my article published on May 6, 2016, I find it important to emphasize only the following: the demand for the application of this doctrine is the most promising opportunity for resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which Armenian diplomacy cannot afford to overlook.