HISTORY AND DEMOGRAPHY
East Transcaucasus is the homeland of the peoples inhabiting there, i.e., Armenians, Lezgins, Talishes, Tats, Udins, and, of course, the descendants of Turks-Seljuks who appeared in the East Transcaucasus as a result of the Tatar-Mongol invasions (currently they are called the Azerbaijani). Long ago Armenians lived both in the left and right banks of the River Kur. In the ancient records this area was referred to as the North-East border of Armenia. East Transcaucasus is one of the areas of the Armenian culture, the cradle of the Karabagh (right bank of the Kur), Shemakh (left bank) and the Baku dialects of the Armenian language. After the downfall of the Armenian kingdom in 428, fighting for the reestablishment of the state system in Armenia, the local ruling dynasty of Aranshakhiks led by Vachagan the Pious attained the acknowledgment of the Artsakh dynasty of Aranshakhiks by Persia. Later, given the continuous invasions of the Arabs, Mongols and Seljuks, Aranshakhiks maintained their domains in the forms of independent and semi-independent dominions typical of eastern states (kingdoms, princedoms, khanates, melikdoms). These dominions played a key role in the political, economic and cultural life throughout the history of the region. In the 19th century when the orientation of East Transcaucasus shifted from Persia to Russia, Baku and Yelizavetpol Provinces were established in the region. These were purely administrative divisions set by the Russian Empire.

ARMENIAN COMPONENT IN ECONOMY AND CULTURE OF EAST TRANSCAUCASUS
In the middle ages the role of the Armenians and newly settled Turks in the economy of the region was determined by the fact that as opposed to the Turks who were mainly nomads, the Armenians led a settled way of life and were the bearers of the respective business culture. The first routings of the raids of the nomads ran through the gorgeous winter pastures of the lowlands along the Kur and Arax. The nomadic tribes initially settled in these lowlands. After Transcaucasus was connected to Russia, economic privileges were granted to the native Turks (Caucasus Tatars) for the purpose of shielding the Talishes, Tats, Kurds, etc. from the political and cultural influence of Persia. However, despite such actions, it appeared that at the end of the 19th century the native Turks were not prepared for capitalist relations. The Armenians, who were good at crafts, art and science, fled to the industrial centers of the region. In the oil industry of Apsheron the efforts, intellect and capital of the Armenian businessmen, such as the Mantashevs, Ghoukasovs, Lianozovs, etc. were invested. The contribution of the Armenians to the creation of the culture of East Transcaucasus, including architecture, theatre, education, music art, was enormous.

CONFLICT IN HISTORICAL RETROSPECT
On the whole, the Karabagh conflict represents the present round of the century-old Armenian-Turkish confrontation which started from the times when the nomad tribes of Turks and Seljuks intruded into Armenia and Asia Minor from Central Asia. As a result, the development of many nations and countries was turned backward, especially after the conquest of Constantinopol (1453) and establishment of the Ottoman Empire.

IDEA OF "GREAT TURAN" AND ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
In the 19th century when the enthusiasm of the Turks, who were cut from their historical homeland, about moving towards the West vanished they were overwhelmed with the idea of expanding the Ottoman Empire to Central Asia and farther to the Pacific Ocean (the idea of "Great Turan"). Their way was blocked by Armenia, Georgia and Persia (as it is so today). The first step towards the implementation of the enchanting idea was the genocide of the Armenians in the West Armenia (Asia Minor), initiated by the Soultan and continued by the Young Turks in 1915-1923. Only recently the co-acting leading powers of the world accused Turkey of the crime against mankind. East (Caucasus) Armenia which was connected to Russia in 1928, survived.

TURKEY'S PLAN OF "MAJOR AZERBAIJAN"
The commotion caused by World War I and the collapse of the Russian Empire allowed Turkey to launch the policy of extinction of the Armenians in the south of the Caucasus as well, where the Armenian and Georgian state systems were reestablished in May of 1918. Exactly during that time the leaders of the local Turks (Caucasus Tatars) supported by Turkey declared the so-called Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan (DRA).

ARMENIAN COMMUNITY OF BAKU PROVINCE AS NATIONAL SUPPORT OF BAKU COMMUNE
Despite the its far-reaching ambitions (from Baku to Batumi) the government of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan (DRA) was not able to arrive in Baku, the anticipated capital where the legitimate power was in the hands of the Baku Commune. In 1917, facing the threat of the growing danger from Turkey, the prospering capitalist Armenian community of Baku and Baku Province became the main national supportive force for the Soviet power in Baku. The Armenians' choice was not between capitalism and socialism, but Russia and the genocide perpetrated by Turkey. The fact that the Mousafat government was not allowed to Baku was indicative of the alignment of the ethnic and political forces of the Armenians and Caucasus Tatars involved in the conflict around the national-state system of East Transcaucasus during the collapse of the Russian Empire.

FIRST EXPERIENCE BEFORE CYPRUS…
It is not clear whether DRA would ever come to existence if not for the Turkish invasion in Transcaucasus. On September 15, 1918 the regular Turkish troops invaded into Baku, massacred the Armenians, overthrew the legitimate authorities and passed the town to the disposition of Mousafats. Prior to actions in Cyprus, DRA was the first attempt of establishing new Turkish states outside Turkey by means of military interventions and massacres of the native population. A special mission was assigned to the puppet government of DRA in the Pan-Turkish plans of Turkey. "Major Azerbaijan" was to become the trampoline for establishing "Great Turan". This intention can be observed in the fact that "Azerbaijan", the name of one of the north-west provinces of the neighboring Persia was assigned to the newly established state.

ATTITUDE OF LEAGUE OF NATIONS
In 1920 the League of Nations rejected the request of DRA on joining the League without recognizing it de jure, due to the ambitious intentions of the DRA. The League stated that de jure DRA was not acknowledged by any of the members of the League. In addition, the League considered that DRA laid illegitimate claim to the territories where it had no actual power. This referred both to Nakhichevan and Mountainous Karabagh.

MOUNTAINOUS KARABAGH (MK)
In the summer of 1918, in the first congress of plenipotentiary representatives of MK the legitimate powers of self-governance of Mountainous Karabagh were promulgated and MK was acknowledged as the integral part of the Republic of Armenia (RA). The DRA which groundlessly laid claim to Mountainous Karabagh, was obliged to start negotiations with the authorities of MK. De facto, in 1918-1920 MK was a sovereign state, as it is today.

ESTABLISHMENT OF SOVIET POWER IN TRANSCAUCASUS. MOUNTAINOUS KARABAGH AS INTEGRAL PART OF ARMENIA DRA
Which was not acknowledged de jure left the arena of history on April 28, 1920 when the 11th Red Army of Soviet Russia entered into Baku and the Soviet power was reestablished there. After the occupation of Mountainous Karabagh by the 11th Red Army, following the example of the League of Nations, Soviet Russia declared that MK was a disputable territory between Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (AzSSR) and Armenia (ref.: Agreement signed between AzSSR and Soviet Russia as of August 10, 1920). When the Soviet power was established in Armenia on November 29, 1920, AzSSR acknowledged Mountainous Karabagh, Zangezur and Nakhichevan (the so-called "disputable", but in fact, the authentic Armenian territories) as the integral part of the Soviet Armenia (Statement of the Azerbaijani Revolutionary Committee of December 1, 1920). On June 12, 1921 Soviet Armenia officially announced that Mountainous Karabagh belonged to Armenia.

AzSSR AS "SUPRANATIONAL OUTPOST" FOR EXPANSION OF SOCIALISM IN THE EAST

However, in 1921 the bolshevik Moscow, striving for expanding the revolution to the East, decided to revive and implement the Turkish-Mousafat plan of "Major Azerbaijan" in its "red interpretation". The idea of creating a strong "supra-national (international) center" in the east of Transcaucasus as the outpost of the Red Revolution in the East was set forth.

THE KARS AGREEMENT AND RESOLUTION OF CAUCASUS BUREAU OF RUSSIAN COMMUNIST PARTY
In light of these plans Nakhichevan which had been acknowledged as the integral part of Soviet Armenia was passed to protection of AzSSR under the Kars Agreement dated October 13, 1921. Even today the said agreement is still effective. The issue of Mountainous Karabagh was brought to the plenary session of the Caucasus Bureau of the Russian Communist Party (of Bolsheviks) which was a party and a non-constitutional body of the third side. The issue was reviewed twice. On July 4, 1921, without violating any procedures, the decision was taken in favor of Armenia. On July 5 without any discussions and voting it was "decreed": "In light of the necessity of maintaining national peace between the Moslems and Armenians, the regular economic relations of the Highland (Mountainous) and Lowland (Plain) Karabagh, as well as its relation with Azerbaijan ("Karabagh" and "Azerbaijan" are used as names of geographically different territories) Mountainous Karabagh (meaning the whole geographical MK) shall remain within the territory of the Azerbaijan SSR (this is the name of the "supranational" Soviet republic which was devoid of any titled nation before the 30s') along with awarding it with broad regional autonomy". The supranational (international) character of AzSSR as the "single state unity " of Moslems and Armenians (Decree "On Establishment of AOMK" as of July 7, 1923) was the key argument of the bolsheviks in their pacifying propaganda among the Armenians and Persians about the newly established state in East Transcaucasus. Details in : www.genocide.ru

COMPETENCE OF CAUCASUS BUREAU OF CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF RUSSIAN COMMUNIST PARTY (OF BOLSHEVIKS) The issue of the competence of the Caucasus Bureau of the Russian Communist Party (of Bolsheviks) (RCPb) which was the non-constitutional body of the third party, has been discussed more than once. If assumed that the Caucasus Bureau was incompetent for taking decisions on territorial issues, one should admit that MK is an Armenian territory annexed in 1921 and should be re-connected to Armenia. If assumed that the Caucasus Bureau had legitimate power for taking respective decisions then one should qualify the Decree concerned as a multi-lateral international agreement. In this case the Decree dated July 4 is legally better-grounded than the Decree as of July 5, which was not put for discussion. The issue of eligibility of the Caucasus Bureau of the Russian Communist party (of Bolsheviks) ceased to be crucial in 1991 when Baku refused to be the legal successor of AzSSR and all legal relations with Mountainous Karabagh were terminated. Nevertheless, whatever assessment is given to the Decree of the Caucasus Bureau, one point obviously remains unchanged: the issue of MK was not the internal matter of the AzSSR.

OFFICIAL ESTABLISHMENT of AOMK
Despite the pressure and trials in 1921-1923, the people of Karabagh objected to the inclusion of MK in AzSSR. The authorities were obliged to promulgate a decree of the Caucasus Bureau dated July 7, 1923 on the establishment of the Autonomous Oblast of Mountainous Karabagh - AOMK (the initial name indicated in the decree assumed the establishment of the autonomous oblast in the whole territory of MK). However, despite the "decree" of the Caucasus Bureau, the Oblast was established only in some part of MK (a new concept, i.e., "Armenian part of Mountainous Karabagh" was introduced in the decree). The western, central and northern regions of MK, including Kelbajhar, Lachin, Kubatlu, Jhebrail, Shahumyan, Khanlar and Dashkesan, were not included in the territory of the Oblast. In order to become a titled nation, in the 30s the Caucasus Tatars selected the ethnonym of "Azerbaijani" which did not exist previously. Right then Autonomous Oblast of Mountainous Karabagh (AOMK) was re-named as ARMK (Autonomous Region of Mountainous Karabagh).

AzSSR HOMELAND OF REPRESSED NATIONS
Throughout the period of the Soviet power the bolshevik idea of "Major Azerbaijan" served as an unannounced sanction for ousting the Armenians from their native lands within the territory of AzSSR and the forced assimilation of the Islamic nations inhabiting in East Transcaucasus: Talishes, Lezgins, Kurds, etc. Moscow looked through fingers at the impelled assimilation in Azerbaijan. Even now the majority of people of the multinational region are in some sense in the repressed state. In the course of time the Armenians and other nations living in Azerbaijan permanently protested against the apparently racist regime in AzSSR which was screened by the slogans of "Leninist friendship of people" and "proletarian internationalism".

POLITICAL REQUEST OF AOMK FOR REUNIFICATION WITH ARMENIAN SOVIET SOCIALIST AND SUMGAIT AS REACTION TO IT
        On February 20, 1988 the special session of people's deputies of AOMK relying on the policy of democracy declared by Gorbachov, applied to the Supreme Councils of Armenian SSR, Azerbaijan SSR and the USSR with a request to consider and make a positive decision on the issue of handing AOMK over from AzSSR to ArmSSR. In response to it, in another border of AzSSR, in the city of Sumgait a massacre of Armenian populace was organized. It was followed by pogroms of Armenians and their deportation throughout the whole territory of AzSSR. In 1988, the Karabagh problem arose as an argument between the two subjects on the national-state arrangement of the autonomous oblast and the Union Republic. Details in: Sumgait

THE POSITION OF THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT OF THE USSR
Gorbachov held an apparently pro-Azerbaijani position, by setting forth the false argument about the existence of dozens of "Karabaghs" in Russia although none of the Soviet republics did not have any problems like 'Karabagh' or 'Nakhichevan'. In the Soviet reality AzSSR was the only republic which did not have full sovereignty over the territories included in it (Nakhichevan and Mountainous Karabagh) due to the existing respective international agreements. The continuously delayed interference of the Soviet troops in the massacres and mass violence in the towns of AzSSR is explained by Gorbachov's position. AOMK and the bordering Armenian regions of the Central MK continued the self-defense till May 1991 when the Soviet Army together with Azerbaijani OMON (detachment of militia of special assignment) deported the Armenian populace from Shahumyan and Hadrut regions of MK. The operation "Circle" was stopped together with the break-up of the USSR. Details in: Operation "Circle"

BREAKUP OF USSR. WHY ASERBAIJAN REFUSED TO BE LEGAL SUCCESSOR OF AzSSR?
On August 28, 1991 Azerbaijan announced that it refused to be the legal successor of AzSSR. This was validated by a constitutional act on October 18, 1991. Thus, Azerbaijan restored the statehood of Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan of 1918-1920, the same DRA which had been declined to become member of the League of Nations and had not achieved any recognition of its borders. Baku refused to be the legal successor of AzSSR in order to avoid the responsibility for the Sumgait tragedy (the genocide of the Azerbaijani Armenians) pay any reparation for the forced deportation of around half-million of the Armenians of AzSSR, and to bring to naught the national and state reality of the Soviet period which recognized that the Armenian populace of Azerbaijan established the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic (the fact that the Armenian Autonomous Oblast, a Soviet form of national and state arrangement, was included in AzSSR proves that the Armenians have not been an ethnic minority of AzSSR).

LEGAL CONSEQUENCES OF TERMINATION OF LEGAL SUCCESSION BETWEEN AzSSR AND PRESENT REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN
The refusal of Azerbaijan to become the legal successor of AzSSR had a critical legal consequence: during the period from August to October of 1991 Baku lost legal relations both with Nakhichevan which had been passed to AzSSR, as well as with the whole Mountainous Karabagh, and not merely Autonomous Region of MK.

LEGITIMACY OF MOUNTAINOUS KARABAGH
In light of the above-stated, any solution of the Karabagh problem should derive from the indisputable fact that in September-December of 1991, i.e., the period when the declaration was promulgated and the referendum took place, long before the acknowledgement of the existing Republic of Azerbaijan by the international community, Baku did not have any relation to the territories embraced within the Republic of Mountainous Karabagh. The Republic of Mountainous Karabagh promulgated about its independence based on the Law of the USSR "On Settlement of Issues Related to Secession of Any Soviet Republic from the USSR" of 1990 which legally defined the right of the Autonomous Oblast of Mountainous Karabagh and the neighboring regions inhabited by Armenians to resolve independently the issue of their state-legal status. At present the RMK has power only over those parts of the territories which were taken away from the Soviet Armenia under the resolution of the Caucasus Bureau of the Russian Communist Party (of Bolsheviks) and where the Autonomous Oblast of the Mountainous Karabagh should have been established.

WHO ANNEXED THE TERRITORIES?
According to the underlying legal bases of the problem, the Central and North Mountainous Karabagh and Nakhichevan are Armenian territories annexed by Azerbaijan.

POLITICIZATION OF PROBLEM IN MINSK PROCESS AND ITS CONSEQUENCES
The political coloring which is given to the Karabagh problem during the last seven years in the Minsk process has completely distorted the core idea and subject of the problem. Some of the concepts and approaches of the "peaceful settlement" of the conflict implanted in the public conscience, in fact directly lead to war. If the mediation and peace-keeping in the east of Transcaucasus are targeted at justice, equality and peace, they should derive from the commonly accepted international legal and political facts and realities which would serve as the conditions for the elaboration of the common language of the dialogue, formation of the common political-legal basis for the settlement of the conflict and, hence, the achievement of the mutual trust and understanding. Regretfully, the truth about Mountainous Karabagh, including the facts stated in international agreements, and state-legal documents have been ignored by now. The inadequate out-dated approaches should be revised as radically as the essence of the problem is distorted.
        The politicization of the problem within the frames of the Minsk process (by now the legal package of "Karabagh" is not put on the tables of negotiations) allows the Republic of Azerbaijan to distort the image of the conflict. By using the principle of territorial integrity as a cover which is not applicable to Azerbaijan (the said principle relates to states with legitimate borders), it accuses Armenia of aggression despite the fact that Azerbaijan is an aggressor itself. Ankara and Baku shared between each other the roles in the joint geo-political project of 'stifling' Armenia. Ankara and Baku blocked Armenia both from the south and the east. Moreover, Baku exhorts pressure on Armenia from the east, claiming for a connection corridor to Nakhichevan and letting Turkey act as a middle-man and even a peace-keeper.

IMAGE OF CONFLICT WITHOUT INDICATION OF VICTIMS OF CONFLICT
The image of the conflict is distorted particularly in the aspects related to the main sufferer of the conflict, i.e, the Armenians of the former AzSSR. The issue of half-million Armenian population of the republic deported as a result of the mass actions of violence and vandalism not only did not receive any compensation against the abandoned apartments and property but was entirely excluded from the processes of the political settlement of the conflict. In the context of the Karabagh conflict exclusively the Armenians from the former AzSSR are the refuge Actually, there are no, Azerbaijani refugees as a result of the conflict. Practically all the Azeris living in the Armenian SSR either favorably exchanged their apartments with the refugees from AzSSR or received compensation after the earthquake in Spitak. Neither those Azeris living in the country of their citizenship are refugees who nearly one and all participated in the blockade of Mountainous Karabagh. These people were obliged to move to other regions of Azerbaijan after the Republic of Mountainous Karabagh broke the blockage and cast out the Azeri troops from some of the bordering regions. It may sound strange but within the frames of the Minsk process, in view of overcoming the consequences of the conflict the issue of returning the migrants (their number is constantly exaggerated and increased 3-4 times), and not the Armenian refugees is reviewed as a priority, although the apartments left by the latter are quite sufficient for accommodating the migrants. The issue of the main victims of the conflict, the deported Armenian refugees, is put aside "for future solution".

WHAT IS INCLUDED IN LEGAL PACKAGE OF THE PROBLEM?
The legal package of the Karabagh problem contains all grounds sufficient for the comprehensive and impartial solution of the problem. Any draft solution of the problem which is aimed at the establishment of peace and stability in the region should by all means be based on the said package. The package as a whole and each individual internationally accepted document contained therein prove that neither in the past and nor today Baku has had any rights to Karabagh.

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