Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 11 / Trend , E.Tariveridyeva/
Armenia has voted against this resolution, likely because of the relations with Russia and even Azerbaijan, and a much smaller because of the tension in the Armenian-Georgian relations, believes Richard Giragosian, Director, of the Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS).
"The reason for Armenia's decision to not support the resolution was the diplomatic precedent it could set for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," Giragosian wrote to Trend in an email.
On Sept. 10, the UN General Assembly adopted by majority the resolution, proposed by Georgia on the situation of refugees from Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The draft document was presented by the Georgian delegation to the 63rd session of the Assembly under the agenda item "Protracted conflicts in the GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova) and their consequences for international peace, security and development."
The resolution states that the parties must "develop a schedule that would ensure the voluntary, safe, decent and unimpeded return of all internally displaced persons and refugees, affected by the conflict in Georgia, to their homes."
Armenia was among the 19 countries that voted against the resolution which angered Georgia.
Giragosian said there are two reasons for Armenia's refusing to support the resolution, recently passed by the UN General Assembly, recognizing the right of return of all displaced persons and refugees to their homes in Abkhazia and South Ossetia based on "the urgent need for unimpeded access for humanitarian activities"
First, despite Russian pressure on Armenia to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Armenia has wisely resisted and refused to extend such recognition, the expert said.
But this time, for this vote, Moscow seems to have exerted new pressure on Yerevan to not support the resolution, Giragosian believes.
The vote on the resolution, entitled "Status of Internally Displaced Persons and Refugees from Abkhazia, Georgia and the Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia, Georgia," was passed with 48 countries voting in favor and 19 against.
A total of 78 countries abstained in the vote, which revealed the delicate diplomacy by both Russia and Georgia behind the scenes.
Giragosian believes In fact, for both Moscow and Tbilisi, this resolution was a new battle in the diplomatic war between the two countries. "Armenia did not want to be a part to and, therefore, went ahead and voted against the measure," he said.
The second reason for Armenia's decision to not support the resolution was the diplomatic precedent it could set for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the expert said.
"Especially given the language of the resolution concerning the UN mandate "to contribute to supporting creation of necessary conditions on the ground for safe return of internally displaced persons," which Armenia may have feared could be used by Azerbaijan regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," Giragosian said.
The resolution also contained an important clause stating that the "responsibility for the actual creation and maintenance of the requisite conditions (security, economic, integration etc.) for sustainable returns rests with the parties themselves", he said.
"This context is in line with Armenian diplomacy, however, and like the Karabakh issue, affirms that he real test is on the parties to the conflict, including Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh first and foremost," Giragosian said.
Opinions expressed in this article may be different of those held by Trend