ARMENIA


STATEMENT
BY

H.E. Mr. VERTAN OSKANIAN

MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

 


Mr. President,
Mr. Secretary-General,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates

Mr. President,

Allow me to begin by congratulating you on your election to the presidency of the General Assembly. I am confident that this 55th session will be most effective and successful under your guidance. I would like to express our appreciation to your predecessor as well, Dr. Gurirab, for his skillful leadership. And, I welcome Tuvalu to the United Nations as a new member.

Mr. President,

Here in this great city, just two weeks ago, an unprecedented number of heads of state gathered and outlined the challenges facing the world in the new millennium, together with their nations' achievements and their visions for the future. It is true that the myriad views expressed differed in perspective, focus, attitude and outlook, but it is also true that the leaders of the world departed from the summit having renewed their common commitment to universal values and principles and a more peaceful and prosperous world. All these were clearly reflected in the Secretary General's Report and the Millennium Declaration which provide us with a blueprint for a common agenda in the years to come.

Although this is a global agenda to meet global goals, but as is often said, all politics. is local and everything begins at home. Therefore, in the final analysis, it is each individual state which must take up the responsibility in its own country and region to make a difference that will cumulatively have an impact on the quality of the world in which we all live. Armenia is cognizant of its own responsibility and is committed to doing its part to ameliorate regional peace and security and elevate the quality of life for everyone involved

Mr. President,

The Secretary General's Millennium Report groups our global challenges under three blunt headings freedom from want, freedom from fear, and the freedom of future generations to sustain their lives on this planet.

Globalization is expected to drive economic development around the world in order to allow future generations to sustain their lives and make possible the kind of economic self-sufficiency we all want for our peoples. The major task of governments around the world today is the pursuit of sound policies and appropriate structural adjustments to meet the challenges that globalization presents, take advantage of the opportunities it offers, without falling victim to the hazards it threatens.

At the same time, the revolution in communication and information technologies has opened up the global market to new players. Information technology and the Internet have become the moving engine for economic growth, and, at the same time, if used appropriately, the great equalizers. They hold the promise of unlimited progress and allow even small and landlocked countries to take advantage of global access in almost every area of their lives. Armenia is fully cognizant of this and has made Information Technology development the axis of its economic growth. We have already taken concrete steps toward bolstering the development of Information Technology and telecommunications, and, together with foreign investors, have begun preliminary work toward an IT industrial park at the outskirts of the capital.

At the same time, well aware that Armenia's educational system must be up to matching this call for infusing the existing intellectual capacity and talent with new skills, we will ensure that education curricula include computer literacy and internet familiarity. By 2005, all our schools will have computer capability with unlimited Internet access.

Mr. President,

Freedom from want and freedom from fear go hand in hand. Without a free, democratic, open system at home and peace and security in our neighborhood, it is not possible to achieve economic prosperity. During these nine years, since the establishment of Armenia's independence, we have made great strides in anchoring democratic values, the rule of law and a respect for human rights in our society. This year, with Armenia's membership in the Council of Europe, these processe ll become irreversible. The responsibilities associated with membership will strengthen and reinforce all that has been achieved to date.

Economic prosperity also hinges on regional stability. At the same time, long-term peace, security and prosperity in our region depend on its equitable economic development and the development of multifaceted economic arrangements among countries and regional organizations. It is apparent that the new environment of co-existence requires new approaches from international organizations. Regional and sub-regional integration has become politically and economically expedient. This is especially true in the Caucasus, which is emerging as a region for competing political and economic interests.

We look at our security not only bilaterally, but also regionally in the broader European context. We are convinced that in the long ran, our national security must be anchored in regional stability.

We are confident that economic cooperation will help us transcend political problems and will facilitate the resolution of political issues. A stable and democratic Caucasus is a work in progress 1-3. Still, the promise of democracy in the region must not shroud the fragility of the emergent equilibrium. We recognize and we welcome the constructive role that the UN and other international organizations, such as the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the BSEC, and the CIS, can and must play to consolidate this regional equilibrium. Armenia intends to expand its cooperation within those organizations and more actively participate in various regional institutions. But these diverse bodies must not, by the uneven or inconsistent application of their principles, exacerbate the existing regional disparities.

Armenia is confident that the Caucasus is in need of a regional system for stability and security, and we stand ready to work towards its formation. We were the first to propose, last year during the OSCE Istanbul Summit, the beginning of a process toward comprehensive regional security leading to a stability pact for the region. Armenia has adopted and will abide by its policy of complementarity conducting even relations with all countries which have political or economic interests in the Caucasus. This approach has worked quite effectively over the last several years, and we believe it has contributed to the reduction of polarization and tension in the region.

However, the region continues to remain adversely affected by the lack of formal relations between Armenia and our neighbor, Turkey. Although Armenia, from day one of its independence, opted for normalization of relations and establishment of diplomatic ties, Turkey insisted and continues to insist on certain conditions related to Nagorno Karabagh and the recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

Ten days ago, at the Summit, President Kocharian addressed this issue and extended a hand to our neighbor in order that we may together find a way to live with the truth of the past, without jeopardizing the promise of the future. Unfortunately, Turkey's response indicated they continue to let the fear of history limit their freedom to act.

But there is no national history in a vacuum. For France and Germany, England and France, the U.S. and Japan, in order to transcend their histories of conflict, war and hatred, they-had to transcend the past together. Indeed, many nations have founded their spiritual and moral resurrection on exorcising their guilt, on the search for validation through truth, on facing their own past squarely. Redemption and reconciliation without truth will remain forever elusive.

Mr. President,

The Millennium Summit Declaration addressed a topic very important to Armenians' right to freedom from fear. The Millennium Declaration provided for the right to self-determination of peoples who remain under colonial domination and foreign occupation. In Nagorno Karabagh, there was both colonial domination by the Soviets and foreign occupation by Azerbaijan, which was given jurisdiction illegally and unjustly over the Armenian region in 1923. For a people whose compatriots lay just over the border, but out of reach, such a divisive act and the ensuing double layer of subjugation was untenable. During the decades of Soviet rule and with the collapse of the USSR, the Armenians of Nagorno Karabagh resorted to demanding their right to self determination, the refusal of which led to military conflict, refugees and loss of life.

During the last six years, the military phase of the conflict has ceased, and Armenia remains committed to a lasting resolution which will provide for peace and security for Nagorno Karabagh, with a continuous geographical link with Armenia. We will continue to work intensely with the CoChairs of the Minsk Group and wish to underscore their contribution to maintaining the cease-fire regime. With equal fervor, we are ready to maintain direct contacts with Azerbaijan in order to search for compromise. However, we think that direct negotiation between Azerbaijan and Nagomo Karabagh would be more productive, as it is the people of Karabagh who will ultimately determine their own destiny and future.

In his report, the Secretary General rightly stated that today more wars are being fought within states than between them. Yet no attempt is being made to address this new challenge in a more effective, meaningful and realistic way.

Each conflict must ultimately be addressed on its own terms, and through the actions and the accommodations of its own peoples and its political leaders. What the international community can do is provide not only the support and the potential incentives for this process of transformation, but the intellectual, conceptual models for exploring appropriate and suitable arrangements in the resolution of seemingly intractable conflicts. We believe that in designing appropriate frameworks within which hostile parties can find a common language, reassurances may have flexible designs which must be specifically geared at addressing particular types of conflicts. If you would allow me the truism, we should think along the lines of form follows function. The function of the probable solutions that must emerge and the broad outline of an eventual peace agreement must rely, we believe, on devices or principles that are tailor-made, highly specific, and perhaps even unique. Without that kind of a customization we believe that generic, standard-issue formulas will not be well-suited for the resolution of the conflict in which we find ourselves at this moment deeply involved, and whose long- term outcome is of great concern to us.

For us, peace in Nagorno Karabagh is of course the promise of transforming a situation of hostility and confrontation with our neighbor Azerbaijan into one of cooperation and mutually reinforced security. We would like to think of the day when Karabagh is transformed from being a chasm separating our countries to being a bridge built for the benefit of all the populations concerned.

Mr. President

The political document adopted by the Millennium Summit sets the guidelines for the development of the United Nations in the coming years. Armenia is confident that this Organization, given its outstanding role and track record, has the capacity to address the new challenges in a most satisfactory manner. The vast experience accumulated over the last five decades can be successfully applied to secure peace and stability all over the world.

However, in response to today's new challenges and new demands, UN reforms must be carried through to strengthen this dynamic organization. With the proposed expansion of the Security Council, that strategic body will become more representative and endow its decisions with greater legitimacy.

Mr. President, may the 21st century be the one that sees all nations united in shared goals and collective action.

Thank you.