Armenia on the path to recognizing Karabakh

Photo: Eric Grigoryan

As the Armenian media reported on May 5, the Armenian government rules in favor of the recognition of Artsakh on a proposed bill.  Now, it will be discussed in the Armenian Parliament.  The legislative body will consider this bill at a special session, in the near future. 

The bill was introduced by Zaruhi Postanjyan, MP from the ‘Heritage’ Party, and Hrant Bagratyan, MP from the Armenian National Congress, ex-Prime Minister.

The authors substantiated the introduced bill as follows:  “The Republic of Armenia has not been recognizing the NKR because the negotiations within the OSCE Minsk Group’s framework may grant the Republic of Artsakh a different status, and importantly, with Artsakh’s consent.  The Republic of Azerbaijan rejects any solution to the problem that does not coincide with the borders of the former Azerbaijan SSR as well as beyond the borders of the Artsakh (Karabakh) autonomy.  The Madrid Principles of 2007 and the updated version, introduced in 2009, are contrary to the NKR Constitution, and therefore are unacceptable.’ 

The Armenian media also published a statement made by one of the initiators of the bill, Zaruhi Postanjyan:  ‘The world community has not condemned the aggression against Karabakh-this means that NK should be recognized.  It will be a political claim of the Armenian people.  There is no alternative to recognition.  We will become a global political factor that cannot be ignored and that can act from a position of strength, as well. This will prevent undesirable processes from being carried out.’

Photo by Photolure agency

The ‘Heritage’ party, represented by Zaruhi Postanjyan, had submitted the bill for the recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh as early as 2009, but it was rejected, the reason being an unwillingness to hinder the negotiation process.  The situation has changed after the outbreak of active hostilities in early April.

Sergey Minasyan, Deputy Director of the Caucasus Institute, has touched upon this issue at the news conference that took place today: 

“I think it is obvious to everyone that the Government’s decision is the logical continuation of the statement that the President made during the developments in early April. According to this statement, in the event that Azerbaijan commences large-scale military operations, Armenia will recognize the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. This is probably the price that Azerbaijan will have to pay for unleashing an all-out war in the region.

Commenting on the government’s opinion with regard to the bill on the recognition of Artsakh, Deputy Foreign Minister, Shavarsh Kocharyan, stated as follows:

“Progress in the Karabakh talks has been made, specifically when Baku was negotiating directly with Karabakh, not pretending that there was no such state at all.  It was possible to reach the 1994 Bishkek agreement only because Baku had held talks with NKR Foreign Minister, Arkady Ghukasyan and then, with President Robert Kocharyan.

Moreover, those talks were held with the consent of Azerbaijani President, Heydar Aliyev.  Azerbaijan still resists Karabakh’s participation in the talks and continues its policy of using negotiations as a veil for its destructive actions.

Social media discussions on the topic of the day boiled down to the following:

‘One apparent scenario is that the bill will be ‘pending’ in the parliament.  As soon as Azerbaijan begins to return to large-scale hostilities, it will immediately be passed.  After Armenia recognizes Karabakh, there will be some other countries that will also recognize it, and the situation will change.  Azerbaijan will be deprived of the chance to say that it is fighting with the separatists.’

The opinions, expressed in the article, convey the author’s terminology and views and do not necessarily reflect the position of the editorial staff.

Published: 05.05.2016