Political glossary

administrative resources Resources enjoyed by incumbent candidates in elections, deriving from their control over public sector personnel, finances and allocations, as well as state-owned media. Many post-Soviet governments have made extensive use of these resources to marginalize electoral challenges from opposition groups.

Azeri There is no clear distinction in meaning between this term and the cognate Azerbaijani. In this publication we have used Azeri to denote ethnically Azeri populations, and the term Azerbaijani to refer without ethnic distinction to the citizens and state institutions of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

de facto / de jure states A de facto state is a polity, typically emerging from a separatist conflict, with many empirical attributes of internal sovereignty (such as control over a given territory, capacity to provide government and services for its population and popular legitimacy), but which in legal terms forms part of the metropolitan or de jure state from which it has separated. A de jure state possesses external sovereignty, namely recognition and the right to enter into relations with other sovereign states, and is commonly assumed to also possess attributes of internal sovereignty.

ethno-federalism See titular nation.

First Secretary The highest executive position within Communist Party structures at the national republic and all-Union levels of the Soviet Union. This position was traditionally held by a member of the titular nation, while a Slav held the position of Second Secretary.

interim status Related to a phased approach to resolving the conflict, interim status would be the internationally recognized status that Karabakh (while continuing to exist in its present form) would receive having accepted a first phase agreement, before its 'final status' was worked out in a second phase agreement.

international administration A concept derived from conflict resolution efforts in the former Yugoslavia advanced in some discussions as a solution to the problem of the return of displaced Azeris to the town of Shusha. The concept suggests that Shusha would be administered by an international authority, providing the necessary security guarantees for the returning Azeri population. Once a sufficient level of return had been achieved, the town would then serve as a base from which to implement return to more scattered surrounding settlements. Some Armenian commentators reject this concept as compromising the sovereignty of Nagorny Karabakh.

metropolitan state A state from which a territory formerly incorporated within its administrative borders has separated and from which this territory seeks independence. The use of the term metropolitan does not imply, however, that such a state should necessarily be seen as 'imperial' or 'colonial' in nature.

Nagorno-Karabakh A commonly used variant spelling of Nagorny Karabakh in Russian, used in the English language insignia of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Technically, however, since nagornyy ('mountainous') is a Russian adjective, the variant used in this publication complies with Russian linguistic norms.

near abroad A term translating the Russian blizhnee zarubezhë, signifying Russia's relationship with the former Soviet republics, now independent states.

nomenklatura Rus. The nomenklatura formed an informal elite group within the Soviet Union from which all important political posts were appointed and which comprised the establishment. Nomenklatura membership was associated first and foremost with loyalty to the Soviet regime, political conservatism and a number of material privileges and benefits.

oblast Rus. Region.

obshchina Rus. Literally meaning 'community', this term is frequently used to denote non-titular (see titular nation) minorities in post-Soviet states. In the context of the Karabakh conflict the term is used in Azerbaijani sources to denote the Karabakh Armenian population, and in Armenian sources to denote the Karabakh Azeri population. In both cases the implication is that the population denoted is non-titular and therefore not deserving of territorialized autonomy. Neither the Karabakh Armenians nor the Karabakh Azeris accept the term as a self-designation.

occupied territories This term may be used in a narrow sense to denote the territories surrounding Nagorny Karabakh captured by Armenian forces in 1993-94. These are the Azerbaijani regions of Kelbajar, Zengelan, Jebrail, Gubatly and Lachin, occupied in full, and parts of the regions of Aghdam (77 per cent according to independent experts; 35 per cent according to Karabakh authorities) and Fizuli (33/25 per cent). In a wider sense it may be used to denote Nagorny Karabakh and the above-mentioned territories collectively.

package approach One of the methodologies of arriving at a peace agreement for Nagorny Karabakh discussed in the late 1990s, contrasted with the step-by-step approach. The 'package' implies the simultaneous resolution of all outstanding issues, crucially the issue of status.

perestroika Rus. Literally meaning 'rebuilding', this term came to popularly denote the political reforms in the Soviet Union initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985.

Politburo The Politburo, from 'political bureau', was the executive organization of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

step-by-step approach One of the methodologies of arriving at a peace agreement for Nagorny Karabakh discussed in the late 1990s, contrasted with the package approach. The step-by-step approach implies a phased process addressing the consequences of armed conflict (above all occupation) before the core issue of status.

Supreme Soviet The highest representative body within Soviet national republics and the Soviet Union as a whole.

titular nation The granting of privileged status to the nationality for which a territory was named was a cornerstone of Soviet nationalities policy, and a defining feature of the system often referred to as 'ethno-federalism'. Titular status served to territorialize the eponymous nation, deemed to be 'autochthonous' (indigenous to the territory) within its given boundaries, institutionalizing a powerful sense of ownership by these groups over those territories and legitimating a considerable degree of self-administration (if not self-rule per se). Other (non-titular) ethnic groups tended to become marginalized over time, and seen as immigrants regardless of their settlement history. It was exceptional for one ethnic group to be the titular nation in more than one territory, as the Armenians were in Armenia and the NKAO.

Yerazi An informal and for some pejorative term used in Azerbaijan to denote Azerbaijanis of Armenian origin. The term means 'Azeris from Yerevan'. The Yerazi form a cohesive political clan that, together with the Nakhichevani clan, has been a dominant force in internal Azerbaijani politics since Soviet times.

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