Nakhichevan Armenians appeal to Russia to annul key treaty

Meeting in Yerevan on 16 March,representatives of the former Armenian community from the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhichevan adopted an appeal to the Russian State Duma to annul sections of the Treaty of Moscow signed 79 years earlier, according to a National Council of Nakhijevan Armenians press release. That part of the treaty, which was signed by Soviet Russia and Turkey, transferred Nakhichevan, which in November 1920 had been formally recognized as part of Armenia, to Azerbaijani jurisdiction, the appeal notes. In 1924, Nakhichevan was given autonomous status within Azerbaijan which subsequently, the press release claims, implemented a policy of compelling the region's ethnic-Armenian majority to emigrate. The press release argues that as the legal successor to Soviet Russia, the Russian Federation should annul the "illegal and illegitimate" treaty which hinders friendly relations and trust between Armenia and Russia. LF
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