Interview with Dr Paul Robinson, a professor at the University of Ottawa's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.
Q: Canada has its own experience of national minority problems on its territory. What is the best model of self-determination for minorities which takes into account the territorial integrity of the state?
A: There is no single model which best suits all. Each state needs to find mechanisms which fit its own needs and historical peculiarities. In some cases, allowing the country to split up may be the best solution; in others, some form of accommodation may be reached.
Q: How strong is the secessionist movement in Quebec at the moment?
A: The secessionist movement remains strong and consistently wins around 40% support. However, it also consistently fails to rise far above 40%, meaning that it will be very difficult for it ever to win a majority. The secessionist Parti Quebecois will almost certainly win the next Quebec provincial election, but it probably will not call another referendum on independence because it does not believe that it can win.
Q: Do you see any similarities between the Karabakh conflict and the situation in Quebec?
A: Not really, given the very violent nature of the former and the peaceful situation in Canada, and also given the fact that Quebec is entrenched within a stable country with a long tradition of democracy, which is not true of Azerbaijan.
Q: Do the Karabakh secessionists have chances to be declared independent from Azerbaijan? Or will the international community always support the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and never recognize the independence of the occupying regime?
A: Were Karabakh to declare independence, it is most unlikely that the international community would at this point recognize it. That does not mean, however, that such recognition is impossible at some point in the far distant future.
Q: Armenia goes on ignoring four UN Security Council resolutions demanding the withdrawal of Armenian military forces from Azerbaijani territory. What should be done to have these resolutions implemented?
A: Nobody is going to take any action to do this. Most people in the West have no idea where Karabakh is, let alone any interest in it.
Q: The Azeri side says that international law allows Azerbaijan to liberate its land by military force. What would be the reaction of the international community if Azerbaijan tried to do it?
A: It depends what you mean by "international community". I imagine that the Russian response would be very hostile. The Western response would probably be indifference - even when the war in Karabakh was at its fiercest in the 1990s, nobody here cared very much.
Leyla Tagiyeva
News.Az
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