Why should Nakhchivan autonomy be abolished? - Historian’s answer

The arrests of high-ranking corrupt officials in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (NAR) as a part of Azerbaijan, the shocking news about customs fees for delivery of goods from the mainland to the NAR, the signboards in Nakhchivan without mentioning Azerbaijan, have raised a question in society: why is the autonomy of this region of the Azerbaijan Republic necessary? Does it make sense in today's realities, and why not to liquidate the NAR, annexing this territory to a single unitary Azerbaijan?  Turan spoke on this topic with Kamran Ismayilov, associate professor, doctor of sciences in history, research associate of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan.  

"Proponents of preserving Nakhchivan's status as an autonomous republic argue that this status is allegedly secured by international treaties, and it is impossible to change this status.  They refer to the historical Moscow and Kars treaties of 1921.

I am not a supporter of the current autonomous status of Nakhchivan and have stated this long before the current events," Ismayilov said.

Question:  What do supporters of the NAR status say?

Answer: There are widespread misconceptions in society regarding the history of the emergence of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic status.

First misconception: the Moscow and Kars treaties supposedly finalized the autonomous status of Nakhchivan (in republican form). This is untrue. Article 3 of the Moscow treaty and Article 5 of the Kars treaty refer to Nakhchivan region as "autonomous territory" ("özerk ülke" in the Turkish text where the treaty was made, "autonomous territory" in the Russian text). The agreements do not specify what specific form of autonomy will be applied to the territory. There are different kinds of autonomous territory status worldwide (special territory, autonomous entity, etc.). Even Nakhchivan has experienced different forms of autonomy (autonomous province, Soviet Socialist Republic, Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Autonomous Republic).

The second misconception is that Nakhchivan's obtaining autonomous status under the Moscow and Kars treaties is a great historical achievement for Azerbaijan. This is absurd. Autonomy implies a special status or a territorial unit with an appropriate status, the right of a given territory to independently solve its internal problems beyond its rights and powers. This notion includes local (regional) self-government. The concept of autonomy has long been associated with the concepts of sovereignty and independence. According to the international theory, autonomous states have traditionally been defined as states that are not subject to any external authority. In other words, autonomy was understood in the sense of relative independence.

However, according to the constitution, Azerbaijan is a unitary state. The residents of Nakhchivan are as Azerbaijani as the rest of the country and do not wish to secede.

In this regard, the granting of autonomy status to Nakhchivan in the early 1920s actually meant a restriction on Azerbaijan's sovereign rights over this historic territory of our people. In fact, the historic achievement in these treaties would have been to recognize Nakhchivan as an integral territory of Azerbaijan.

Third common misconception is that Nakhchivan's autonomy status is enshrined in international treaties and it is impossible to change or revoke this status. However, the status of Nakhchivan has changed several times. 

Before becoming an autonomous republic in 1924, Nakhchivan ASSR had certain attributes of an independent state. Consulates and representations of Nakhchivan operated in Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Iran and Baku.

In February 1923, the III All-Union Congress of Soviets decided to incorporate Nakhchivan to the Azerbaijan SSR. On June 16 of the same year the CEC of Azerbaijan SSR approved this decision. However, these decisions were protested by the Turkish state, which on June 25, 1923 sent a note to the governments of RSFSR and Azerbaijan SSR as saying that they were contrary to the Moscow and Kars treaties.

In fact, formally the Turkish side was right. The point was that these decisions contradicted the letter (rather than the spirit) of these treaties. It was emphasized that the Moscow and Kars treaties, unfortunately, enshrined Nakhchivan autonomy not as a part of Azerbaijan, but under its aegis. Therefore Presidium of CEC of Azerbaijan had to reconsider its decision and on February 24, 1924 it adopted a new decision on transformation of Nakhchivan region (Nakhchivan SSR) into Nakhchivan Autonomous Soviet Republic under the auspices of the Azerbaijan SSR.

Recall that although the establishment of Nakhchivan ASR was officially withdrawn from this date, many official documents after this date (such as the Nakhchivan Constitution adopted in 1926) used the words "Soviet Socialist Republic" as the title of the region. All above-mentioned is indicative that after the proclamation of Nakhchivan as an autonomous territory, its status changed several times.

Does the status of autonomy necessarily have to be in the form of an autonomous republic?  There are different forms and types of autonomy in the world. For example, Gagauzia within the Republic of Moldova has a special legal status. Spain as unitary state is not divided into 17 autonomous republics, but into autonomous communities (provinces) (Spanish: comunidad autónoma).

From this standpoint, forms such as union republic, autonomous republic or autonomous region are remnants of the Soviet system of nation-state building. Why should we be faithful to it, while we have long since abandoned many of the Soviet experiments?

Question:  Can "a state within a state" be abandoned?

Answer: First of all, through constitutional and administrative-territorial reforms, the republican form of Nakhchivan autonomy should be abolished and another, lower form of autonomy be introduced.

When it comes to Nakhchivan’ difficult geopolitical position, I propose the name "Nakhchivan Special (Private) Region". There is no need for a separate constitution for Nakhchivan.  Its status can be determined by a special law or statute. 

At present, in accord with Article 134 of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic is an autonomous state within the Republic of Azerbaijan. How can one state be a part of another? For example, the legal status of Gagauzia is regulated by the Law of the Republic of Moldova "On special status of Gagauzia". The Law defines Gagauzia as "a territorial-autonomous unit with a special status". We can do the same and abandon the current status of Nakhchivan, which complicates the political and territorial organization of our state and creates a certain asymmetry.

There is a further point to be made here is that the principle of power sharing is implemented in a very strange way in the NAR. While executive power in the Republic of Azerbaijan (as in most countries) is vested in the President, who is the highest ranking official, in Nakhchivan, the head of the legislative power is the highest ranking official. He effectively heads both the legislative and the executive powers.

In NAR the structures of the executive power have to be reviewed and adapted to the current realities. Granting this, more flexible mechanisms for streamlining governance need to be introduced. At present, the composition and structure of the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan - the Cabinet of Ministers, with few exceptions, is copied in Nakhchivan. According to official statistics 13 Ministries, 4 committees, 7 state services, 2 agencies, and 1 department comprise the Cabinet of Ministers of Nakhchivan AR with population of 462.960 people. The bloated bureaucracy provides fertile ground for corruption. 

That is why the head of state's orders to eliminate the traffic police and the Customs Committee in Nakhchivan were welcomed by everyone, and there are high hopes for new decisions in this direction. In a region where there are effectively two state-owned television and radio channels and one state-owned newspaper (there are no independent media outlets at all), there are institutions such as the Media Development State Support Fund, the Press Council, and the Council on Television and Radio.

It stands to mention that the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev "On the New Division of Economic Regions in the Republic of Azerbaijan" of July 7, 2021 is of great importance. To my thinking, a new administrative-territorial division of the Republic of Azerbaijan should be carried out on the basis of this document. With that consideration, the Decree will contribute to reducing bureaucracy, public expenditure and raising the efficiency of governance. -0-