Statement On the Social and Economic Rights of the People of Artsakh delivered by Ambassador Arman Kirakossian at the 1149th Meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council

08 June, 2017

Mr. Chairman,

We would like to draw the attention of the Permanent Council to the topic of ensuring human rights and fundamental freedoms, including social and economic rights of the people residing in conflict areas, which is of utmost relevance for our security Organization.

The realization of the individual and collective human rights and fundamental freedoms including economic and social rights must not be dependent on the status of the territory where peoples live, a concept which is well embedded in all international instruments including Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The international instruments such as the UN Covenant on Political and Civil Rights and the UN Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights empower people to pursue their economic, social and cultural development by the virtue of the right to self-determination. The UN Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights by its Article 1.2 establishes that “All peoples may, for their own ends, freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources without prejudice to any obligations arising out of international economic co-operation, based upon the principle of mutual benefit, and international law. In no case may a people be deprived of its own means of subsistence”.

Accordingly, the people of Artsakh are entitled to all human rights including right to life, right to development, and other political, cultural and economic rights. The detailed position of the authorities of Artsakh in this regard was reflected in the Notes Verbale No. 04/1567/2016, dated October 20, 2016 and 04/0719/2015, dated 25 May, 2015. For easy reference of the Delegations we will attach the Notes to our Statement.

Moreover, there are no any international sanctions imposed against the people of Artsakh and its foreign economic cooperation.

We are grateful to the OSCE Austrian Chairmanship for outlining in their second dimension priorities the topic of building economic partnerships in conflict areas. Armenia and Artsakh have come up with number of proposals on confidence building measures in the field of economic and environmental dimension, which could alleviate daily suffering of the people residing in the NK conflict zone and create conducive environment for advancing political talks.

Mr. Chairperson,

The attempt of Azerbaijan to define criminal all economic, social, cultural and humanitarian activities of the people of Artsakh aims at further violating individual and collective human rights and thus should be unequivocally condemned. Azerbaijan is not entitled to inflict collective punishment on the entire people through impeding their economic, cultural and humanitarian contacts with the international community.

Azerbaijan has itself recognized in its official communications, including in the most recent reply to OSCE Code of Conduct Questionnaire that it does not exercise sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh, which is indeed an accurate assessment. Therefore, Azerbaijan cannot apply its jurisdiction on NK and define what is legal or not.

Moreover, Azerbaijan has recognized that the equal rights and self-determination of peoples should be among the principles of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution during the OSCE Athens Ministerial Council and thus denying rights of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to economic and cultural development is contradictory in this regard.

The attempts of Azerbaijan to isolate the people of Artsakh and deprive them of all their inalienable rights, alongside with the aggression unleashed last year in April are yet another clear indication that the people of Artsakh are facing existential threat and they have no future under the rule of Azerbaijan.

It is regrettable to see how Azerbaijan tries to pursue illegal actions beyond its jurisdiction and export its repressive policy to the other OSCE participating states, something that was referred here in the current case of Afgan Mukhtarli and in earlier case of Alexander Lapshin as well. The issue of enforced disappearance, abduction or so called extradition of journalists and bloggers imprisoned in Azerbaijan should be taken seriously by all those who stand for human rights and fundamental freedoms

We call on the OSCE participating States to deplore violation of inalienable human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people of Artsakh by Azerbaijan and encourage the latter to comply with the OSCE commitments.

Thank You

MFA RA
official website

Dual citizenship

Electronic visa

Visa applications