http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=14566550&PageNum=0
Itar-Tass November 25, 2009 Russia FM sends official note to Japan re Southern Kurils MOSCOW: The Russian Foreign Ministry has called “unacceptable” the approval by the Japanese government of a document that says about the “illegal occupation by Russia” of the Kuril Islands, it is said in a statement of the RF Foreign Ministry released on Tuesday. “Moscow has given the most serious attention to the aforesaid step of the Japanese government,” the ministry’s document says. “We consider it necessary to stress that the Southern Kuril Islands are an inseparable part of the Russian Federation territory on legal grounds based on the WW2 results in accordance with the legally binding agreements and treaties between the ally states, as well as the UN Charter that was ratified by Japan.” “The approval by the Japanese government of a document with the above wording cannot be assessed any other than unacceptable. The Russian side, including at the top level, has repeatedly warned about counter-productivity of such actions for the bilateral dialogue on the peace treaty problem, including the border delimitation aspect. "The current steps of Tokyo contradict the fixed by the leaders of the Russian federation and Japan mutual understanding of the need to create a normal, mutually respectful atmosphere of bilateral cooperation, including the dialogue on the peace treaty problem and border delimitation. The Russian side is ready to continue the corresponding dialogue only in this manner,” the RF Foreign Ministry stated. “The Russian Foreign Ministry has sent the corresponding official note to the Japanese Foreign Ministry. We hope that Tokyo will draw due conclusions from the situation emerged as a result of its actions,” the statement says. “Russia for its part is committed to the development of relations with Japan in the constructive spirit that characterises contacts between the RF president and Japanese prime minister,” the Russian Foreign Ministry noted. The Kuril Islands dispute, also known as the Northern Territories dispute, is a dispute between Japan and Russia over sovereignty over the South Kuril Islands. The disputed islands, which were occupied by Soviet forces during the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation at the end of World War II, are under Russian administration as South Kuril District of the Sakhalin Oblast, but are claimed by Japan, which refers to them as the Northern Territories, being part of the Nemuro Subprefecture of Hokkaido Prefecture. The San Francisco Peace Treaty between the Allied Powers and Japan from 1951 states that Japan must give up all claims to the Kuril islands, but it also does not recognize the Soviet Union's sovereignty over the Kuril Islands. Russia maintains, that Soviet Union's sovereignty over the islands was recognized following agreements at the end of the Second World War, however Japan has disputed this claim. The disputed islands are: Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai rocks. Russia maintains that all the Kuril Islands, including those that Japan calls the Northern Territories, are legally a part of Russia as a result of World War II, and that this acquisition was as proper as any other change of international boundaries following the war. Moscow cites the following basic points: The explicit language of the Yalta Treaty gave the Soviet Union a right to the Kurils, and the Soviet Union upheld its own obligations under that treaty. The nation of Russia inherited possession of the islands from the former Soviet Union, in accordance with international law. The Japanese assertion that the disputed islands are not part of the Kurils is simply a tactic to bolster Tokyo's territorial claim and is not supported by history or geography. Russia has said it is open to a negotiated "solution" to the island dispute while declaring that the legality of its own claim to the islands is not open to question. In other words, Japan would first have to recognize Russia's right to the islands and then try to acquire some or all of them through negotiations. On February 6, 2008, Japan Today, an English-language news site in Japan, reported that the Russian president had suggested to Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda to finally settle all territorial disputes over the Kuril Islands and had sent him a letter inviting him to come to Russia for discussions. The dispute over the Kuril Islands was further exacerbated on July 16, 2008, when the Japanese government published new school textbook guidelines directing teachers to say that Japan has sovereignty over the Kuril Islands. The Russian Ministry of Foreign affairs announced on July 18, “[these actions] contribute neither to the development of positive cooperation between the two countries, nor to the settlement of the dispute” and reaffirmed its sovereignty over the islands. Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met in Sakhalin on February 18, 2009 to discuss the Kuril Islands issue. Aso said after the meeting that they had agreed to speed up efforts to resolve the dispute so that it would not be left to future generations to find a solution. =========================== Stop NATO http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato Blog site: http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/ To subscribe, send an e-mail to: [email protected] or [email protected] Daily digest option available. ==============================
