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Evaluating UN Practice in the Settlement of Identity-Based Territorial Conflicts with a View on the Cyprus, Karabakh and Kosovo Cases

Document Type : Article

Authors

1 Prof., Department of Law, Faculty of Humanities, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran

2 Ph. D. Candidate in Public International Law, Faculty of Law, University of Qom, Qom, Iran

Abstract

The conflicts between minority groups and the central government are considered to be one of the current threats to international peace and security. Employing the descriptive-analytical method and studying three cases of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Nagorno-Karabakh and Kosovo, this paper seeks to analyze the performance of UN in settling the identity-based territorial conflicts. The authors believe that the reason behind the failure of UN in settlement of Cyprus and Karabakh crises is that the Security Council has always supported the rights of Cyprus and Azerbaijan to maintain their territorial integrity without mentioning the possibility of the realization of right to remedial secession. In fact, the Council has always given an unconditional guarantee to central governments and thereby has lost its pressure tool on these states to grant appropriate privileges to secessionist groups in order to persuade them to abandon their secessionist demands. On the contrary, through implicit recognition of remedial secession as the last resort and after the deadlock of negotiations, this organization has had a relatively successful performance in Kosovo problem and impeded the continuation of an endless crisis. It appears that the report-card of this Organization in this regard is neither black nor white; it is grey and this leaves us in a world of fears and hopes.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

  1. English

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    1. E) Resolutions
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    1. C) Theses and Dissertations
    2. Khaghani, M. (2021). Success or Failure of UN Security Council in the Settlement of Territorial Conflicts: With a View on Karabakh Conflict. MA Dissertation in International Law (Supervisor: Ali Mohammad Mokarrami), Saveh, Razavieh High Education Center of Saveh (In Persian).
    3. Ja’fari, Sajjad (2019). Assessing the Performance of UN and The Organization of Security and Cooperation as to the Karabakh Conflict. MA Dissertation in Diplomacy and International Organizations (Supervisor: Mohammd Hasan Sheykh-ol-Eslami), Tehran, Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Faculty of International Relations (In Persian).
    4. Ghotbi, A. (September 2017). Statehood of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus form the Perspective of International Law, MA Dissertation in International Law (Supervisor: Sattar Azizi), Tehran, Tarbiyat-e-Modarres’ Faculty of Law (In Persian).
    5. Soleymani, A. (September 2020). Security Challenges of Turkey and NATO Relations in the Reign of Justice and Development Party (2001-2019). MA Dissertation in Political Science (Supervisor: Seyed Javad Salehi), Shiraz, Shiraz University’s Faculty of Law and Political Science (In Persian).
Public Law Studies Quarterly
Volume 53, Issue 4
Winter 2024
January 2024
Pages 1695-1719
Files
History
  • Receive Date: 22 April 2022
  • Revise Date: 12 July 2022
  • Accept Date: 24 October 2022
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