The transformation of Artsakh (hereinafter “Nagorno-Karabakh1 ’’ and “Artsakh’’ will be used interchangeably) conflict is a sine qua non for security, wellbeing, prosperity as well as for the peaceful co-existence among the nations of the South Caucasus. The conflict was widely discussed in political, historical-irredentist and military context in both Armenian and Azerbaijani literature and beyond. Nevertheless, the legal aspects of the conflict still remain overlooked. Here a question might arise: does the international law matter or has it ever been taken seriously especially against the backdrop of the maxims of Realism, i.e., power, self-aggrandization, war being a natural condition, anarchy of the international system and so on.
I will answer the question posed by me by citing in my view one of the most fascinating books – The State in the Third Millennium by Hans-Adam II, the Prince of Liechtenstein, which I had the honor to translate from English to Armenia: “Let us take the time that humans have lived on earth and imagine it as one year. If homo erectus two million years ago represents January 1, or the beginning of human development, then only on December 29, 12,000 years ago, did a few people try out agriculture for the first time in a small area.
When, on December 31, or 4,000 years ago, agriculture finally spread and started to shape human society, this agrarian-style society was already coming to an end”.2 Indeed, we live in a fascinatingly changing world. International organizations and international law are de novo institutions in international relations however effective or ineffective they might seem to be. Back a century ago it was hard to imagine that archenemies like France and Germany will create international bodies and give partly their sovereignty up to the jointly created institutions. Similarly, it was difficult to imagine that sovereign states will succumb to the decision of international courts that have no (military) power to enforce them. Napoleon and Hitler would probably laugh to hear that!
One may argue that aggressive acts of individual states such as Turkish occupation of a part of Cyprus or totally illegal and bloody 44-Day War waged by Azerbaijan against the people of Artsakh pose a real challenge for international legal order, thus putting the very raison d'être of international law under jeopardy. However, I would counterargue that international law faced similar challenges less than a century ago, when the politics of a few aggressive states put an end to the existence of the League of Nations.
Nevertheless, international law did not vanish and the League of Nations was superseded by even more effective and rule-based international entity – the United Nations! It is probably impossible to predict the essentials of the legal system of the future as it was hard to imagine the creation of the United Nations in the beginning of the 20th century. However, regardless of the essentials of the current and future international legal orders the events occurred after the emergence of the Artsakh conflict will never become a water under the bridge.
If Karabakh issue is ever to be settled before any international court, it will most likely pay due regard to the so-called “critical date’’, which refers to the moment when the potential rights of the parties manifested themselves to such an extent that subsequent acts could not alter the legal position of the parties. Therefore, the legal aspects of the conflict are of critical importance and the noble and righteous struggle for the right to self-determination of the people of Artsakh shall be corroborated by sound and valid legal arguments. The mission of the present work is to assemble the important legal issues related to Artsakh issues in one place. Admittedly, it is full with legalese. However, and most importantly, it does not transcend the boundaries of international law and does not discuss the political, moral and emotional aspects of the issue. Hopefully, it will accomplish its mission by serving as a guidebook for the policymakers and an auxiliary material for the students of International Law and Political Science. I gift this book to all the martyrs who struggled for the people of Artsakh and for their cherished dream – to see peace and prosperity in and the international recognition of Artsakh. They struggled with arms; however, my struggle is and will be through and for the sake of international law, its primacy and preeminence.
1 Artsakh is Armenian endonym for Karabakh. Historical Artsakh was much bigger than Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast in Soviet times and the de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.
2 Liechtenstein, Hans-Adam, Van Eck Publishers, 2009, p. 48.
Link to the full text of the book: https://asue.am/upload/files/amberd/Albert_Hayrapetyan.pdf
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