Kosovo is a unique case which has nothing to do within the UN system of the recognition of the newly established states and cannot be a legal model for any part of the World – said Mehmet Sukru Guzel, Turkish expert on conflict studies.
Sukru Guzel, who is the founder President of Center for Peace and Reconciliation Studies, made comments to Eurasia Diary portal on the political and legal aspects of the independence of Kosovo and its effects on conflict-zone areas in the South Caucasus, especially Nagorno-Karabakh.
Turkish expert first touched upon the International Court of Justice’s role in Kosovo issue.
“Let’s remember the ICJ`s advisory opinion for Kosovo. The question on which the advisory opinion of the ICJ had been requested on the independence of Kosovo is “Is the unilateral declaration of independence by the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government of Kosovo in accordance with international law?” The ICJ had concluded that the adoption of the declaration of independence of 17 February 2008 did not violate general international law,” Guzel said.
“What we need to understand from this answer is that the ICJ as an organ of the UN fulfilled its responsibility to protect the system established after the 2nd World War.,” he added.
According to him, the advisory opinion of the ICJ on Kosovo is not formulated on the concept of self-determination on decolonization, saying such as its advisory opinion on East Timor or Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory on the concept of the obligation to recognize as legal within Article 73 of the UN Charter.
“The answer to the question turned on whether or not the applicable for international law prohibited the declaration of independence. The ICJ shortly say that anyone can give a declaration of independence and giving a declaration of independence does not need to be within the UN legal system. The acceptance of a unilateral declaration of independence can be subject to the political choices of the States as in the case of Kosovo,” he stressed.
Sukru Guzel also believed that there is nothing related with the situation of Nagorno-Karabakh and Kosovo.
“Kosovo is one of the last problematic territories of the Eastern Problem of the 19th Century. During that time, the demography of Kosovo was the percentage of ethnic Albanians would be about 83 per cent, or between 80 and 85 per cent, and that of ethnic Serbs about 10 per cent, or between 9 and 13 per cent, leaving persons in other ethnic groups at about 7 per cent,” he noted.
According to his opinion, the Kosovo case is not a traditional state secession of a minority group where they are majority in a defined territory, saying that 90 percent of the population cannot be ruled by the minority of 10 percent.
“I would like to remind the famous wording, a declaration of independence is an ink on the paper. It gets value if ever recognized by any State. Sometimes some states withdraw their recognition such as the cases of Biafra, Nigeria or Sahrawi Democratic Arab Republic,” he said.
Furthermore, an expert paid attention on the similar ties between Kosovo and the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus. In this regard, he touched upon on one important point that the only political choices of the member states of the UN Security Council determine the adoption of the independence of other countries.
“We need to remember as well the declaration of independence of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in 1983, the UN Security Council by its resolutions 541 and 550 considered the declaration as legally invalid and called for its withdrawal. The problem of the declaration of independence of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in 1983 is that it is written on wrong legal bases within the UN legal system,” he underscored.
According to him, with a new corrected declaration of independence in the UN legal system, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus can well be a member of the UN.
“Also we need to ask why the UN Security Council did not take a decision for Kosovo as the case of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The answer is the political choice of some member states of the UN Security Council not to prevent their future recognition of Kosovo,” he added.
