Armenia, 2000

Allow me to join my

colleagues in congratulating you, Sir, on your election

to the presidency of the General Assembly. I am

confident that this fifty-fifth session will be most

effective and successful under your guidance. I would

also like to express our appreciation to your

predecessor, Mr. Gurirab, for his skilful leadership, and

I welcome Tuvalu to the United Nations as a new

Member.

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 left the Summit having renewed their

common commitment to universal values and

principles and to 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.

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 that must take up the

responsibility in its own country and region to make a

difference that will have a cumulative 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 enhance regional peace and security

and to elevate the quality of life of everyone involved.

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 to 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 and to 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 engines for economic growth and, at the

same time, if used appropriately, its 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 towards bolstering the development of

information technology and telecommunications and,

together with foreign investors, have begun preliminary

work towards an information technology industrial

park on 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

curriculums include computer literacy and Internet

familiarity. By 2005, all our schools will have

computer capabilities with unlimited Internet access.

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 neighbourhood,

it is not possible to achieve economic prosperity.

During the nine years since the establishment of

Armenia's independence, we have made great strides in

anchoring democratic values, the rule of law and

respect for human rights in our society. This year, with

Armenia's membership in the Council of Europe, these

processes will 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 coexistence requires new approaches

from international organizations. Regional and

subregional 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 in a bilateral, but also in the broader

regional European context. We are convinced that, in

the long run, our national security must be anchored in

regional stability.

We are confident that economic cooperation will

help us transcend political problems and facilitate the

resolution of political issues. A stable and democratic

Caucasus is a work in progress. Still, the promise of

democracy in the region must not shroud the fragility

of the emergent equilibrium. We recognize and

welcome the constructive role that the United Nations

and other international organizations — such as the

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe

(OSCE), the Council of Europe, the Black Sea

Economic Cooperation and the Commonwealth of

Independent States — can and must play to consolidate

this regional equilibrium. Armenia intends to expand

its cooperation within those organizations and more

actively to participate in various regional institutions.

These diverse bodies, however, must not, by the

uneven or inconsistent application of their principles,

exacerbate 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 at the OSCE Istanbul Summit, the

beginning of a process towards comprehensive regional

security leading to a stability pact for the region.

Armenia has adopted and will abide by its policy of

complementarity, conducting relations with all

countries which have political or economic interests in

the Caucasus. This approach has worked quite

effectively over the past several years and we believe

that 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 neighbour, Turkey. Although

Armenia, from day one of its independence, opted for

the normalization of relations and the establishment of

diplomatic ties, Turkey insisted and continues to insist

on certain conditions related to Nagorny Karabakh and

the recognition of the Armenian genocide.

Ten days ago at the Summit, from this podium

President Kocharian addressed this issue and extended

a hand to our neighbour in order that we might together

find a way to live with the truth of the past without

jeopardizing the promise of the future. Unfortunately,

Turkey's response indicated that it continues to let the

fear of history limit its freedom to act. However, there

is no national history in a vacuum. France and

Germany, England and France, the United States and

Japan, in order to transcend their histories of conflict,

war and hatred, 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.

The Millennium Summit Declaration addressed a

topic that is very important in relation 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 Nagorny Karabakh, there was

both colonial domination by the Soviets and foreign

occupation by Azerbaijan, which was illegally and

unjustly given jurisdiction 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 then after the

collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the

Armenians of Nagorny Karabakh 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 that will provide for peace and

security for Nagorny Karabakh, with a continuous

geographical link with Armenia. We will continue to

work intensely with the co-chairs of the Minsk Group

and wish to underscore their contribution to

maintaining the ceasefire regime. With equal fervour,

we are ready to maintain direct contacts with

Azerbaijan in order to search for compromise.

However, we think that direct negotiations between

Azerbaijan and Nagorny Karabakh would be more

productive, as it is the people of Karabakh who will

ultimately determine their own destiny and future.

12

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 also

the intellectual, conceptual models for exploring

appropriate and suitable arrangements for the

resolution of seemingly intractable conflicts. We

believe that in designing appropriate frameworks

within which hostile parties can find a common

language, reassurances may be designed in a flexible

manner which must be specifically geared to

addressing particular types of conflicts. If I may be

allowed a truism, we should think along the lines of

“form follows function”. The function of the probable

solutions that must emerge, as well as 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

customization, we believe that generic, standard-issue

formulas will not be well-suited to 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 Nagorny Karabakh represents, of

course, the promise of transforming a situation of

hostility and confrontation with our neighbour,

Azerbaijan, into one of cooperation and mutually

reinforced security. We would like to think of the day

when Karabakh is transformed from being a chasm

separating our countries into a bridge built for the

benefit of all the populations concerned.

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, United Nations 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 its decisions will be endowed with

greater authority.

May the twenty-first century be the one that sees

all nations united in shared goals and collective action.