Democracy in NKR election vs. int'l double standards

Nagorno Karabakh (shown) was once an autonomous republic but was forcefully incorporated into the Azerbaijani SSR by Stalin

STEPANAKERT (Tiraspol Times) - Amid the now-customary condemnations of illegitimacy and non-recognition, voters in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR) will go to the polls on 19 July to elect a new president. As expected, Azerbaijan and a number of Western countries have declared the vote illegal from the outset and international organizations will not send observers despite repeated invitations by Nagorno Karabakh to participate in monitoring the election.

There are five candidates for the Nagorno Karabakh presidency: Vanya Avanesyan, Armen Abgaryan, Masis Mailyan, Grant Melkumyan, and frontrunner Bako Sahakian. All of them, except Communist Party leader Grant Melkumyan, were nominated by public organizations. Turnout is expected at 70 percent to 80 percent.

Outgoing President Arkady Gukasyan is convinced that "a tradition of conducting fair elections has evolved in Karabakh" and that at present there are "ideal conditions" for a free expression of the people's will.

While observers and analysts consider Nagorno Karabakh's democracy to be stronger than in neighboring countries, the international community continues to refuse recognition of the right of local residents to democratically choose their political leaders.

Nagorno Karabakh declared independence after the fall of the Soviet Union but had to defend itself against Azerbaijan for the right to self-determination. It was once an autonomous republic but was forcefully incorporated into the Azerbaijani SSR by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. When the USSR broke apart, residents sought to undo the Stalin-imposed union.

Democratic standards exceed nearby recognized countries

Today, an influential Russian analyst points out that despite being unrecognized, Nagorno Karabakh has democratic standards which are higher than in the neighboring recognized countries of both Armenia and Azerbaijan. Sergei Markedonov, head of the department of international relations at Russia's Institute of Political and Military Studies, says that "today Karabakh continues to remain as a peculiar lighthouse for Armenia," and adds that Azerbaijan is also less democratic.

" - The democratic standards in unrecognized Karabakh are higher than in internationally recognized Azerbaijan. Karabakh will also pose lots of inconvenient questions in front of the world community. Conceptions on democratization as an important precondition for the processes to peacefully resolve ethnic-political conflicts serves as an axiom for the United States, Europe, as well as influential international organizations (UN, OSCE). In reality this thesis does not work always. There is not a single presidential candidate in NKR who would not support democratic principles. Just the opposite, Karabakh people accept democracy not as an abstract value, but as an effective mechanism of international legitimization," said Sergei Markedonov.

Markedonov notes that during Nagorno Karabakh's 2005 parliamentarian elections, the so-called "Kosovo principle" (first democratization, then self-determination) was declared a key tenet of the policy of Karabakh and politicians of Karabakh, setting an example for other countries and unrecognized countries to follow. The strides toward more democracy did not change the official attitude of the West, however, who still continue to hold different standards for Kosovo and Nagorno Karabakh.

One set of rules for Kosovo, different rules for everyone else

While Kosovo's elections are always recognized as legitimate, despite heavy violence and a lack of safeguards for minorities, the same international organizations routine condemn elections in other unrecognized states as illegitimate.

" - The international community can easily recognize only a referendum organized with NATO or the OSCE assistance,” said Armenian political analyst Stepan Grigoryan. However, whether recognized or not recognized, what matters is the reality on the ground and the actual fact that the election is recognized by the voters. Voters in Transdniestria, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Somaliland, and Nagorno Karabakh go to the polls on a regular basis and elect political leaders who are recognized as legitimate by themselves, but not by the international community.

Stepan Grigoryan also noted that granting independence to Kosovo can influence the situation in Nagorno Karabakh. “Because Kosovo and Nagorno Karabakh have similar problems,” he stressed adding that they differ only in their scale.

Azerbaijan threats stir new war fears

Although democracy is an important part of any conflict resolution process, the West has developed a tradition of not recognizing any elections in areas of "frozen conflicts" except Kosovo. This is seen as a double standard by voters in other areas whose status settlement processes have been left unresolved for longer than Kosovo. The lack of support for peaceful, democratic development is now causing many to fear that new wars are underway. Combined with a lack of support from the international community, bellicose statements from neighboring states fuel this fear.

Azerbaijani president Ilkham Aliyev said last week that Nagorno Karabakh must voluntarily give up its independence if it wants to avoid a new war.

" - Azerbaijan is militarily the strongest power in the region, and our neighbors should face up to this. Armenia should voluntarily withdraw its troops from Azerbaijani lands. Only on this condition will it be possible to say with certainty that there will not be a new war," warned the president of Azerbaijan.

In Nagorno Karabakh, none of the five candidates support war. All five are committed to peaceful conflict resolution while at the same time rejecting any talk of coming under Azerbaijan's jurisdiction. The commitment to independence matches the overwhelming general sentiment among the population.

Outgoing President Arkady Ghukasian has characterized the election campaign as "close to ideal." Addressing students on 2 July 2007, Ghukasian pledged to ensure that the 19 July vote is free and fair, stressing that his republic "always holds the best election in the post-Soviet space," even if the international community declines to recognize the vote as legal and valid, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. (With information from RFE/RL)

See also:
» PMR and NKR collaborate in Commonwealth of Unrecognized States
» 98.6% of Nagorno Karabakh's voters choose independence