Political scientist: Azerbaijan`s territorial claims to Artsakh have  no legal basis, and Soviet maps cannot form the basis for determining  the border

ArmInfo.Azerbaijan's territorial claims to the Republic of Artsakh have neither historical nor legal basis. Political scientist Stepan Hasan-Jalalyan holds this  view.

Thus, the expert, responding to the statement of Russian President  Vladimir Putin during the discussions at the Valdai Club on October  21, where the latter, referring to the settlement of the  Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict, noted that there are maps in the  General Staff of Russia, that show how the border between the Union  republics was the Soviet period and on the basis of which the border  between Armenia and Azerbaijan should be determined, Jalalyan  stressed that the maps of the Soviet period cannot be the basis for  this process.

The political scientist emphasized that Soviet maps cannot form the  basis for determining the boundaries for 4 reasons:

Firstly, a state called Azerbaijan was established on May 28, 1918 by  the authorities of Ottoman Turkey as a result of the invasion of the  Turkish army into Transcaucasia. The name of the newly established  state Azerbaijan was chosen from the name of a province located in  the northeast of neighboring Iran.

Secondly, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic proclaimed on May 28,  1918 and existed until April 28, 1920, was internationally  unrecognized, and on December 1, 1920, the League of Nations  officially rejected Azerbaijan's request for membership in the League  of Nations in writing, referring the fact that it had never been a  state before and appropriated the name of the neighboring Persian  province, making it the name of the state, and it is also impossible  to determine the exact borders of Azerbaijan due to border disputes  with neighboring countries.

Thirdly, according to the declaration "On the restoration of the  state independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan", adopted on August  30, 1991 and the constitutional act of the Republic of Azerbaijan "On  the restoration of the state independence of the Republic of  Azerbaijan", adopted on October 18, 1991, Azerbaijan renounced the  succession of Soviet Azerbaijan, restoring its statehood under the  name of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, which existed since May  28, 1918 until April 28, 1920 and was not internationally recognized,  and of which Artsakh has never been a part.

And fourthly, both by the declaration and by the constitutional act,  which renounced the legal succession of Soviet Azerbaijan and  proclaimed itself the legal successor of the existing in 1918-1920  the internationally unrecognized Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the  Azerbaijan Republic, in fact, invalidated all legislative acts  adopted during the Soviet period regarding Azerbaijan.

"In fact, having adopted the abovementioned documents, the Republic  of Azerbaijan annulled the decision of the Caucasian Bureau of the  Communist Party of Soviet Russia of July 5, 1921 on the annexation of  Artsakh to Soviet Azerbaijan, which, in fact, was neither discussed  in the meeting nor put to a vote, but an "illegal decision on its  seizure" was made, "Stepan Hasan-Jalalyan emphasized.

At the same time, referring to the Soviet period, the political  scientist recalled that on November 30, 1920, by the decision of the  Revolutionary Committee of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic,  Nagorno- Karabakh was declared a part of the Soviet Socialist  Republic of Armenia.

"On June 12, 1921, by a decree adopted by the chairman of the Council  of People's Commissars of Soviet Armenia, Alexander Myasnikyan,  Nagorno-Karabakh, Sovietized on May 26, 1920, was declared an  integral part of Soviet Armenia. Moreover, by the decision of the  revolutionary committee of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic  of November 30, 1920 it was recognized as part of the Socialist  Republic of Soviet Armenia, and according to the decree adopted by  the Council of People's Commissars of Soviet Armenia on June 12,  1921, Artsakh, which is an integral part of Soviet Armenia, by an  illegal decision of July 5, 1921of the Caucasian Bureau of the  Communist Party of Soviet Russia, which did not have the right to  decide territorial issues, without discussion and voting, that is, in  fact, without adoption, by an illegal decision, was annexed to Soviet  Azerbaijan, not taking into account the will of the people of  Artsakh, "the expert noted.

In addition, according to Stepan Hasan-Jalalyan, the authorities of  Soviet Azerbaijan, violating the illegal decision of the Caucasian  bureau of July 5, 1921, which was not discussed and not put to a  vote, formed an autonomous region only on a part of the territory of  Nagorno-Karabakh, while deliberately leaving the Shahumyan region,  Karvachar region, Kashatagh region, Kovsakan region, Akn region,  Kashunik region, Jrakan region, Varandi region, geographically and  historically considered territories of Nagorno-Karabakh, outside the  Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region.

He also drew attention to the fact that the government of Soviet  Azerbaijan, not taking into account the opinion of the people of  Artsakh, by a decree of July 7, 1923, illegally annexed large  territories of the northern, southern, eastern and western parts of  Artsakh to the territory of Soviet Azerbaijan.

"Grossly violating the principles of the peaceful settlement of  disputes and the non-use of Force or the threat of force, adopted by  the final act on August 1, 1975 at the Helsinki Conference on  Security and Cooperation in Europe, September 27, 2020 as a result of  unleashing a third aggressive war, with the support of Turkey and  using hired terrorists against the Republic of Artsakh, Azerbaijan  occupied about 75% of the constitutionally secured territory of the  Republic of Artsakh. As a result of three aggressive wars unleashed  against the Republic of Artsakh, Azerbaijan occupied about 84% of the  constitutionally secured territory of the Republic of Artsakh, "the  expert emphasized.

At the same time, the political scientist drew attention to the fact  that the UN did not discuss in any format the issues of recognizing  the borders of the Republic of Azerbaijan or its territorial  integrity.

He recalled that according to the UN Charter, the rules of procedure  of the General Assembly and the UN Security Council, unlike the  already defunct League of Nations, the UN does not have the authority  to recognize the borders or territorial integrity of the state. "The  study of all the documents adopted by the UN on Azerbaijan's  accession to the Organization allows us to assert that the UN in any  format did not discuss the issues of recognizing the borders of the  Republic of Azerbaijan or its territorial integrity.

On January 14, 1992 the President of Azerbaijan, who officially  addressed the UN Secretary General in writing with a request for  Azerbaijan's accession to the Organization, informed the UN about the  restoration of independence lost in April 1920, thereby informing the  world community that Azerbaijan will restore its internationally  unrecognized statehood, within which Artsakh has never been in any  status.  Based on the statement of the President of Azerbaijan dated  January 14, 1992 addressed to the Secretary General for membership in  the UN and on the General Assembly resolution dated March 2, 1992 on  the admission of Azerbaijan to the UN membership, it can be argued  that the United Nations Organization accepted Azerbaijan as a member  without the Republic of Artsakh.  Based on the abovementioned, I  would like to stress once again that Azerbaijan's territorial claims  to the Republic of Artsakh have neither a historical nor a legal  basis. Artsakh has never been and will never be a part of Azerbaijan,  "Stepan Hasan-Jalalyan summed up.