Representatives of Armenia’s ruling coalition object to adopting the bill on recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh submitted by the Heritage Party.

Chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) faction Galust Sahakyan stated that the RPA is not against the bill. However, it objects to the Heritage Party’s initiative to discuss the document in Parliament now. “We propose postponing the vote on the document to our colleagues,” Sahakyan said. According to him, international recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh is a priority now.

Representatives of two ruling parties, Hovhannes Margaryan (Country of Law) and Aram Safaryan (Prosperous Armenia), consider discussions of the bill inadvisable as long as the negotiations go on within the OSCE Minsk Group.

The Parliament member Ara Simonyan has the impression that the bill is an initiative of Turkey or Azerbaijan, which seek to thwart the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process within the OSCE Minsk Group. 

The Heritage faction member Armen Martirosyan stressed that the adoption of the bill recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh by the Armenian Parliament will not affect the OSCE Minsk Group process nor will it increase the risk of new hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh, as it is economically inadvisable first of all for Azerbaijan. “As regards the negotiations, Azerbaijan continues committing acts of sabotage on the line of contact with Nagorno-Karabakh along with negotiations,” Martirosyan said.

NEWS.am reminds readers that the Armenian Parliament has stated discussing the bill on recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh submitted by the Heritage Party. The Armenian Government objects to adoption of the bill. The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) is the only parliamentary faction that is ready to support the document. Considering the MPs’ opinions, the Heritage Party leader Raffi Hovhannisyan proposed postponing the vote on the document until the next four-day session, for the other parliamentary forces to “think it over.”