Today.Az » Politics » Irish FM: Ireland can apply its expertise to resolve Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
21 September 2010 [10:43] - Today.Az
During its OSCE chairmanship in 2012, Ireland, as the current OSCE chairman - Kazakhstan, will do everything possible to find a resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said.
"Given our experience in resolving the conflict in Northern Ireland, we believe that it would be useful to apply the principles that worked there to Nagorno Karabakh," he told Trend.
Ireland is often called the "Republic of Ireland," not to be confused with Northern Ireland, which is a territory within the UK. Ireland received independence from the UK only after World War I.
The conflict in Northern Ireland was a dispute between the central British authorities and the local right-wing Catholic and national organizations regarding the status of the region.
The perennial standoff ended with the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty under which 26 of the 32 counties of Ireland gained independence from London, while the other six - in the province of Ulster - moved to the UK.
The conflict is still unresolved, although a formal resolution was reached is in 1998 upon the signing of the Belfast Agreement. The agreement provided for the establishment of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the transfer of certain state functions by London to Belfast.
Martin said Northern Ireland and Nagorno Karabakh are different, but a forthcoming analysis on the eve of the OSCE chairmanship will show more realistically how the Irish experience can be used to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
/Trend/
|
|
