In a study conducted on September 15, 2021,weI would like to introduce you to the legal validity of the delimitation and demarcation of the borders of Armenia (1920).
In January 1918, after the Erzya Armistice (12/17/1917), which decided to withdraw its troops from the territory of Western Armenia, Bolshevik Russia issued a “Decree on Turkish Armenia”, which provided for both the withdrawal of Russian troops and the self-determination of the Armenians of Western Armenia before they gained independence.
From the moment of the Armistice of Mudros (October 30, 1918) to the arbitration decision of the 28th US President Woodrow Wilson (November 22, 1920), the issue of Armenia’s independence became a matter of international law.
After Pogos Nubar Pasha submitted a memorandum to the Versailles Peace Conference on February 26, 1919, and then formed a government on May 15, 1919, Armenia was recognized de facto on the territory of Western Armenia (January 19, 1920), then within the framework of the Sanremo Conference as part of the allied and united Powers, Armenia (Western Armenia) was recognized de jure (May 11, 1920), when the Supreme Council handed over the Sevres Peace Treaty to Turkey for signature.
Turkey recognized the new Armenian state on June 25, 1920. It was decided that Erzerum (Karin) would become the capital of the Armenian state.
The Treaty of Sevres was signed by Turkey, the allied and associated Powers and Armenia on August 10, 1920, recognizing the Armenian state as sovereign and independent, as the Allied Powers had already done with regard to the provinces of Western Armenia (Van, Bitlis, Erzurum and Trebizond).
On November 22, 1920, an arbitration award signed by the 28th US President Woodrow Wilson finally settled the border issue between Western Armenia and Turkey.
Considering that it took three treaties (Alexandropolsky, December 2, 1920), Moscow (March 16, 1921) and Kars (October 13, 1921) to try to replace the Treaty of Sevres (August 10, 1920), this unnecessary procedure gave the Treaty of Sevres even greater force and validity. And here we cannot do without mentioning the Treaty of Lausanne, which is very often presented as the final touch to the great replacement of the Treaty of Sevres without legal consequences for Armenia (1920).
The question of the border between Armenia (1920) and Azerbaijan on the basis of article 92 of the Treaty of Sevres remains unanswered.
We noticed yesterday, November 17, 2021, during a session in parliament, that Nikol Pashinyan used the term “demarcation” before the term “delimitation”. We would like to return to this point in particular. It should be understood that such a statement greatly simplifies and even somewhat obscures the scale of the task that the commission being created will actually have to solve. For many years, the use of certain words in the context of border delimitation has been accompanied by a special connotation recognized by both geographers and lawyers. In particular, it is customary to distinguish between delimitation and demarcation.
As noted, for example, Charles Rousseau (lawyer): “Unlike delimitation, a legal act that can be analyzed as a fundamental decision on determining the elements (criteria) that make up the border, demarcation refers to all material operations that lead to the transfer to the ground of the outlines of the border established by the convention.
In theory, this difference is understandable, but in practice it can be more complicated. In this case, concerning the eastern border of Armenia (1920), the land border was in any case defined, i.e. delimited, in the agreements of 1919, at the Sanremo conference in April 1920 and at the signing of the Treaty of Sevres on August 10, 1920, and all other agreements were declared invalid.
Taking into account the demographic statistics obtained as a result of the genocide condemned by the international community, the issue of delimitation was the subject of a study in 1919, which we present below: the issue of the border between Armenia (1920) and Azerbaijan on the basis of article 92 of the Treaty of Sevres remains unresolved.
We noticed yesterday, November 17, 2021, during a session in parliament, that Nikol Pashinyan used the term “demarcation” before the term “delimitation” I would like to return to this point in particular.
It should be understood that such a statement greatly simplifies and even somewhat obscures the scale of the task that the commission being created will actually have to solve.
For many years, the use of certain words in the context of border delimitation has been accompanied by a special connotation recognized by both geographers and lawyers.
In particular, it is customary to distinguish between delimitation and demarcation. As noted, for example, Charles Rousseau (lawyer): “Unlike delimitation, a legal act that can be analyzed as a fundamental decision on determining the elements (criteria) that make up the border, demarcation refers to all material operations that lead to the transfer to the ground of the outlines of the border established by the convention.
In theory, this difference is understandable, but in practice it can be more complicated. In this case, concerning the eastern border of Armenia (1920), the land border was in any case defined, i.e. delimited, in the agreements of 1919, at the Sanremo conference in April 1920 and at the signing of the Treaty of Sevres on August 10, 1920, and all other agreements were declared invalid.
Taking into account the demographic statistics obtained as a result of the genocide condemned by the international community, the issue of delimitation was the subject of a study in 1919, which we present below.
All other proposals on delimitation should be subject not only to the written proposal of Azerbaijan, but also taking into account criteria equivalent to the criteria that allowed the above-mentioned delimitation.
The delimitation criteria correspond to various crimes that have been condemned by the main Allied Powers since 1894.
At the same time, the Commission will have to determine to which sovereignty significant parts of the territory in question belong. The Commission could effectively demarcate the border line on the ground only after determining the course (delimitation) of the border line.
First of all, it should be recalled that the Security Council is a body that, according to the UN Charter, is especially important for maintaining international peace and security.
The Security Council has the right to decide on the validity of a treaty delimiting the border, for example, the arbitration decision in the V. Wilson case of November 22, 1920. As well as the application of article 92 of the Treaty of Sevres, which concerns, among other things, the border between Armenia in 1920 and Azerbaijan.
Armenak Abrahamyan
President of the Republic of Western Armenia