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After moving to Yerevan, Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) President Samvel Shahramanyan has signed a decree invalidating his decree signed on September 26, 2023 on the dissolution of Artsakh. Lawyer Roman Yeritsyan wrote about this on Facebook.
“Dear compatriots
I am sure [that] many of you know or understand the motives behind Artsakh President Samvel Shahramanyan’s issuing a decree to dissolve the second Armenian state. Some also imagine that no official, including the head of state, has the authority to dissolve a state by decree.
However, various circles of society, not even taking into account the fact that the so-called decree on dissolving Artsakh has not even entered into force as a legal act, have exploited it in various ways, calling Samvel Shahramanyan the president dissolving Artsakh, etc.
Moreover, based on the content of the decree, criminal charges have been brought against various individuals in the RA [i.e. the Republic of Armenia], including the heads of Artsakh communities and members of the council of elders, arguing that the state and communities of Artsakh have been dissolved, and the powers of [Artsakh] officials have been terminated, therefore, exercising this or that power by them is criminally punishable.
For those who have taken seriously the issue of the Artsakh Republic [(AR)] being dissolved by some decree and in order to avoid further speculation, after moving to Yerevan, the president of the Artsakh Republic, Samvel Shahramanyan, has issued another decree publicized below, by which the decree on the dissolution of Artsakh signed on September 26, 2023 was declared invalid on the same platform.
Samvel Shahramanyan has informed the authorities of the Republic of Armenia about this in an official letter.
Although neither this nor the decree on the dissolution of Artsakh have any legal force, both contradict the basic law of Artsakh and the provisions of other legal acts having a higher legal force than the decree, have not entered into force, and therefore cannot even cause any consequences, I am nevertheless publicizing the decree of the AR president’s decree No. 659-N, asking everyone to stop talking about Artsakh being dissolved.
Also, I remind that Azerbaijan has had leaders of Shushi, Aghdam and other communities for about 30 years, so do not consider the page of Artsakh closed due to territorial loss.
We will get ours back," wrote lawyer Yeritsyan.
