Tuesday, April 26 2016 05:31

 Many support the idea that the fate of Nagorno-Karabakh should be decided by the Karabakh population. However, the outcome of a possible referendum is obvious, former Russian co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group (1992-96), Chairman of the Council of Veterans of the Russian Foreign Ministry Vladimir Kazimirov says in an interview with Moskovsky Komsomolets.  

Even if one admits that the Azerbaijanis, who earlier lived in Karabakh, vote at the referendum, the overwhelming majority of the voters will vote for independence. "Therefore, Ilham Aliyev wants no referendum at all. He puts the question like this: "This is our territory - so give it to us," the diplomat says.    

This is how Kazimirov explains the new constitution adopted in 1995 during Heydar Aliyev's presidency.  The constitution said that referendums can be conducted in a nationwide scale only. Therefore, no referendum can be held in Karabakh under the Azeri constitution. 

"Meanwhile, it was Quebec, not the whole of Canada, that voted at the referendum on Quebec's independence," he says. The same is true about the referendum on Scotland's independence, he said. "If a referendum on Catalonia were held, it would be Catalonia, not Spain that would go to the polls. But Spain, like Azerbaijan, wants no such a referendum, because its outcome is obvious. This is the core of the conflict," the diplomat says.