YEREVAN. – Zhoghovurd newspaper of the Republic of Armenia (RA) writes: For the first time in the history of Armenia and Artsakh [(Nagorno-Karabakh)], the events of Artsakh Independence Day [anniversary] will be held without the participation of the RA senior leadership.

In particular, a special sitting of the parliament will be held in Artsakh on September 1, and then the next day, an event dedicated to the Independence Day [anniversary], which, however, will not be attended by either RA President Armen Sarkissian, RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, or RA NA [(National Assembly)] President Alen Simonyan.

In a conversation with Zhoghovurd daily, Artsakh NA President Artur Tovmasyan noted that he had no information on the attendance or non-attendance by the mentioned officials, but noted that representatives of all parliamentary factions will be present at the special sitting and the next day's events.

We did not manage to contact the RA Prime Minister’s press secretary, Mane Gevorgyan, but we were informed that Pashinyan will not be in Armenia in those days; he is on vacation in [Russia’s] Sochi.

NA President Alen Simonyan's spokesperson Tsovinar Khachatryan noted that the RA NA delegation [to attend the Artsakh celebrations] will be headed by one of the [NA] vice-presidents; [NA standing] committees’ chairpersons, MPs are part of the delegation.