On October 3, 2018, the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SAM) hosted the International Conference on "Separatism as a Challenge to International Order", with the presence of highly respected local and international experts.
SAM`s director Farhad Mammadov welcomed the distinguished guests of the conference. In his opening remarks, Dr. Mammadov evaluated separatism as one of the main threats to fundamental norms and principles of international law and the territorial integrity of the states. Having touched the devastating outcomes of separatism, Farhad Mammadov has also assessed Armenia's separatism policy against Azerbaijan as a major handicap to regional peace and stability.
The solemn conference proceeded with former Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Hikmet Chetin`s statements on separatism. Mr. Chetin has focused on the undermined international dialogue and state building processes in consequences of malicious acts of separatism.
The first discussion-heavy panel on "The Theory and Law of Separatism’’ moderated by Dr. Fariz Ismayilzade, Vice-rector of ADA University was an academic platform for the lectures delivered by the Senior Researcher at the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (Bochum Ruhr University) Hans-Joachim Heintze, Senior Analyst at the Elcano Royal Institute Ignacio Molina and Professor at the Faculty of Law of the Ankara University Cavid Abdullazade on the themes of self-determination, territorial integrity principles and remedial secession in international law and the Catalan case of Europe.
The second panel-meeting chaired by the head of SAM`s Foreign policy analysis department Cavid Veliyev was dedicated to the topic "Territorial integrity and separatism in Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus". The panelist included the member of Parliament of the Republic of Azerbaijan Rasim Musabeyov, the head of the Center for Eurasian Studies (Serbia) Dušan Proroković, Senior fellow at the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies Giorgi Badridze, Senior Researcher at the Institute of History of Moldova Octavian Ţaku.
The conference might be recorded one of the largest events of SAM`s conference portfolio and was followed by the Q&A session and Farhad Mammadov`s final remarks.
