Browsing by Author "CEYLAN, Selen"
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Item THE LEGITIMACY OF NATO’S 1999 INTERVENTION IN KOSOVO AND RUSSIA’S 2014 ANNEXATION OF CRIMEA: THE USE OF FORCE AND THE RIGHT TO SELF DETERMINATION(2021-11-08) CEYLAN, Selen; GÜLSEVEN, AslıAccording to the United Nations Convention, states are not allowed to apply military force to each other and to interfere in their internal affairs. NATO’s intervention in Kosovo in 1999 which has been shown as an example of humanitarian intervention led to some discussions in the international field. The independence of Kosovo by separating from Serbia, emerged without the UN Security Council decision but with the unilateral decisions of NATO, the USA and the EU but proved as legal by the Advisory Opinion written by the International Court of Justice. Intervention in Kosovo is closely related to humanitarian aims which gained importance after 1999. Although Russians opposed at first, Russia tried to justify its illegal occupation and annexation in terms of international law in the case of Crimea. Self-determination on the other hand has been complex. Deciding “who” the self is and under “which conditions” the concept of self-determination is valid has been the problem. Kosovar people declared their independence by using their right to self-determination. However, Crimean referendum was not appropriate with the international law. In this study, the legitimacy of both 1999 NATO intervention in Kosovo and 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea, how they illegally used force, and their path for their recent status are examined. The study explores both the similar and the different aspects of two cases, and it also studies the way the interventions are against the international law. It is understood that NATO in its intervention and Russia in its annexation ignored the international law. On the other hand, declaration of independence of Kosovo was legal whereas Crimea’s referendum to join Russia was not totally accepted as lawful. Russia tried to refer to the Kosovo case as a reference although it did not accept NATO’s action as legal in 1999. However, Russia's action to prove Crimea's annexation legal did not gain support in the international arena.