Professor Hans-Joachim Heinze: "The right to self-determination does not apply to the Karabakh Armenians"

The Professor of International Law at the University of Bochum, Hans-Joachim Heintze, speaking in Berlin at a panel discussion on the resolution of the Karabakh conflict, gave his assessment of the balance of the principles of ‘territorial integrity’ and ‘the right of peoples to self-determination’ in the context of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.

"If we consider the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, two states are involved in it - Armenia and Azerbaijan. Armenia's position is that ‘the people of Nagorno-Karabakh’ realize their right to self-determination. The Azerbaijani side, in turn, claims the principle of its territorial integrity. The principle ‘uti possidetis’ was applied after the collapse of the USSR, according to which the newly-formed states inherited the borders of the former Soviet republics. But I do not believe that Armenia's position is correct, because the population of Nagorno-Karabakh was a part of the people of Azerbaijan. As a part of the people of Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh’s population had a loyalty commitment to their country. The Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh are the minority, not the people, and for this reason the principle of the right of peoples does not apply to them,’’ the professor said.

According to the lawyer, this is the real starting position in the conflict, although Armenia does not agree with it. "Now a way must be found out of this situation, and the ways out are outlined in Chapter 6 of the UN charter. It states that the parties should try to resolve disputes and conflicts, first of all, by peaceful means -negotiation, mediation, arbitration and other methods. And a big disappointment for me, as a lawyer, is the fact that the international community, although it has adopted several resolutions on the conflict, then stopped halfway and has not implemented the resolution data in practice," the expert said. "We cannot accuse the international community of regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as a ‘frozen’ one. This is the wrong approach, because any ‘frozen conflict’ can explode at any second. The EU puts emphasis wrongly, focusing on aspects of humanitarian aid and claiming that it is necessary to be prepared for a conflict, rather than to work towards the elimination of their causes, " Heinze said.

According to the lawyer, the efforts made by the EU, particularly by Germany, are insufficient. "There are certain complaints about the German policy as well. If at this stage it is impossible to solve the fundamental problems and contradictions in the conflict, it is necessary to solve the practical problems. The fact that people were kicked out of their houses is intolerable. And nothing concerning the restoration of human rights in their case is done! I believe that the international community (including Germany) should take small practical steps to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, one after the other," the professor concluded.