March 13, 2008 - 14:03 AMT
NKR MPs call on international community to avoid double standards as regards unrecognized states
Democracy, Homeland and ARFD - Movement 88 factions of the Nagorno Karabakh National Assembly adopted a declaration on occasion of proclamation of independence by Kosovo's parliament on February 17, 2008.

The declaration reads:

"Defending the right to free self-determination;

Welcoming the stand of the international community in respecting the human and civil rights of the majority of Kosovo's population;

Noting that the Azerbaijani authorities have been systematically carrying out a policy of discrimination, civil rights restriction, ethnic cleansing and deportation against the indigenous Armenian people of Nagorno Karabakh for many decades, thus forcing formation of organized self-defense;

Considering that, in this way, from the moment of legal decline of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan has lost all legal and moral rights to exercise governmental authority over Nagorno Karabakh;

Regretting the human and other losses during the conflict and, especially, in the stage of armed confrontation;

Hoping that it is possible to achieve a mutually acceptable solution through negotiations, which would guarantee the international recognition of Nagorno Karabakh's free self-determination;

We call on the parliaments of all countries to be consistent in recognition of states formed on the grounds of the right of peoples to self-determination and to refrain from applying double standards."