The Armenian Bar Association’s (ABA) 17-member Board of Governors recently passed a resolution stating that an official policy of the organization is to help secure international recognition of the Nagorno-Karabagh Republic (NKR/Artsakh) as an independent, sovereign state under international law.
To emphasize the ABA’s commitment to secure under international law the right of self-determination of the citizens of Artsakh, the Board passed a further resolution that, for the first time in its 26-year history, amended its mission statement to read as follows: “A fundamental organizational purpose of the Armenian Bar Association is a commitment to take any and all steps permitted under international law to secure the recognition of the independence of the Artsakh Republic and to protect the right to self-determination of the people of the Artsakh Republic as guaranteed under international law.”
The resolutions were initially proposed by Armen K. Hovanissian, chairman ex-officio; Saro K. Kerkonian, vice-chair; Garo B. Ghazarian and Karnig Kerkonian, co-chairs of the Armenian Rights Watch Committee; and Edvin E. Minassian, past chairman and long-standing Board of Governors member.
On the occasion of the passage of the historic resolution, Armenian Bar Association Chairman Harry H. Dikranian, of Montreal, Canada, stated, “Every day, with the utmost courage and determination, Armenian men and women are putting their lives on the line to defend their right, guaranteed under international law, to exercise their self-determination. Today, the members of the Armenian Bar Association vow to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with their brothers and sisters in Artsakh and offer their legal expertise to assist them in their just quest to seek international recognition of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Artsakh Republic. We encourage all Armenian organizations world-wide to join in this effort.”
The Armenian Bar Association is the largest organization of Armenian attorneys, judges, law professors, and other legal professionals in the diaspora. Founded by Raffi Hovannisian in 1989, for the past 26 years, through the work of its various committees, the ABA has sought to promote the development of the rule of law in Armenia, defend the rights of Armenians anywhere through its Armenian Rights Watch Committee, and provide free legal assistance to Armenian communities through the work of the Pro Bono Committee.
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We thank the Armenian Bar Ass. for pushing the recognition ow Artsakh but to incorporate it under Armenia. This has been long delayed and Artsakh has been Independent for over 25 years and why hasn’t Armenia recognized it’s Independence. The Azeri’s have been sniping our Artsakh soldiers month after month and the United Nations & other countries do nothing on this serious issue. Nobody brings out that this territory has always been part of Historic Armenia & it was Stalin & Kemal Attaturk whom took away our Historic Lands, whereby Artsakh & Nakhichevan was given to the Azeri Turks, Javakh to the Georgians, & Kars & Ardahan to the Turks. Also, Stalin himself was a Georgian & thats why Javakh was given to Georgia. These issues must be brought forward to the U.N. as well as the still valid Treaty of Sevres signed by Turkey & Armenia along with 16 other Allied Nations after the 1st WW. Armenia has failed to bring up these issues before if is too late. E Mails should be sent to every House Leaders & Congressman through out the country giving them info. on what the Armenian Nation has gone through these past 100 years & even before that with all the atrocities the Armenian’s have gone through when the Seljuk Turks, the Mongol Turks, as well as the Ottomon Turks for the past 1000 years. Our people have gone through being forced to become Moslems by the millions or forced to flee to other lands. We once had 12 million Armenians living on their Historic Lands & look what is left of our Nation. So many millions live in other countries being assimilated with other ethnic races & look at Armenia whereby the population is less than 2 million Armenian’s left for lack of jobs. If our Armenian Government does not get onto the right path with the threats from Azerbaijan & Turkey we may not have a free country in the future.
{This territory [Artsakh] has always been part of Historic Armenia & it was Stalin & Kemal Ataturk whom took away our Historic Lands, whereby Artsakh & Nakhichevan was given to the Azeri Turks, Javakh to the Georgians, & Kars & Ardahan to the Turks. Also, Stalin himself was a Georgian & that’s why Javakh was given to Georgia.}
What you wrote is a hodgepodge. Our historic lands were taken already in 1915 during the rule of the Young Turks, and only then, from 1918 to 1920 Ataturk stepped in, and with the help (ammunition and gold) of the Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, could gain the upper hand in his fight against the Democratic Republic of Armenia. Stalin figures later, when Artsakh, Nakhichevan, and Javakhq were taken from Armenia and given to the Azeri Turks and the Georgians, respectively. There is no evidence whatsoever that Stalin agreed to the transfer of Javakhq to Georgia because he was a Georgian. Actually, new evidence emerges about Stalin’s ethnic origin, which suggests that there was little to nothing Georgian in him. We also forget that during the WWII, in 1943 to be exact, the Red Army divisions were waiting for Stalin’s command to enter the Turkish territory in order to take back Kars, Sarikamish, Igdir, Kagizman, Ardahan, Artvin, and Oltu that were ceded to the Turks according to the 1921 Treaty of Kars. It was the British and the Americans who strongly advised against invasion.
History is never solid black or solid white…
Recognising the independance of Artsakh is paramount in settling the issue of Karabagh. The right of a people to democratically decide their own fate is internationally recognised and enforced by the big powers when it suits their interests. Well done and good luck ABA. I hope you get the moral and financial support of all Armenians.
Artsakh is the modern jewel of Armenian pride, where our historical struggle against invading Turkic herds failed!
This aged well. The Armenian Bar is now chicken to call out Nikol Pashinyan