Double standards

Issues of territorial integrity have always been of primary importance for the security of the South Caucasus.
Georgian deputy foreign minister Nino Kalandadze expressed the official position of her government regarding the issue of the participation of a Nagorno-Karabakh observer delegation in the Abkhaz presidential elections on August 26. According to the Foreign Ministry it is not regarded as a threat in Tbilisi. Ms Klandadze stressed that Georgia is in no way concerned about the position of Armenia, as this country supports Georgia's territorial integrity and doesn't recognize the legitimaсy of any elections in the breakaway republics, so Nagorno-Karabakh's participation is not an indicator of Yerevan's opinion on the matter.
It is easy to understand this position of Georgia: there is no point in quarreling with neighboring Armenia over the actions of the unrecognized state of Armenians occupying part of Azerbaijani territory. What is really surprising, is the position of Armenian officials. On the one hand Armenia refuses to recognize the sovereign status of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, despite the fact that Armenian's principle partner in the region - Russia - did so three years ago. On the other hand, even though Yerevan hasn't yet officially recognized the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh, it insists that international recognition of this state would be the best way to resolve the protracted conflict. Moreover, Armenia has recently intensified this propaganda.
Last Saturday, Armenian President Serge Sarksyan addressed the assembly of CIS leaders and in a rough manner demanded a final recognition of the Nagorno-Karabakh state. According to him, the Karabakh people are exercising their right to self-determination, a right earned by blood.
It would be interesting to know what difference the Yerevan authorities can point out between Nagorno-Karabakh's independence and that of South Ossetia and Abkhazia ? After all, a number of countries have already recognised ex-Georgian republics - and that is not the case for Nagorno-Karabakh. It is also true that Abkhazia and South Ossetia are, for the most part, populated by non-Georgians, Abkhazians and Ossetians, who haven't yet realized their right to self-determination and the creation of independent states, while Armenians already have their own sovereign state, so there's no point in creating a new one.
Both the Armenian and Nagorno-Karabakh authorities choose to disregard the internationally-recognized principle of territorial integrity, adopted by the UN in order to prevent territorial disputes beween the organisation's members. Therefore, it is obvious that Yerevan is following double standards on issues of Azerbaijani and Georgian
territorial problems.
Elmira Tariverdieva, exclusively to VK