The daily comments on Heritage-initiated bill on recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Why did Heritage party impose on putting the bill to the vote in spite of an obvious failure? Why the voting was held on the eve of another significant date in Karabakh’s history, particularly the 19th anniversary of Karabakh’s independence referendum.

From the very beginning the bill raised a storm of controversy. Not only all the parliamentary forces, but also extra parliamentary parties, irrespective of their orientation, were certain about the bill was ill-timed. In this regard, Heritage faction was all alone with its initiative, of course, not because of other forces opposed Karabakh’s independence.

Both the parliamentary majority and Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutyun (ARFD) have repeatedly stated the bill is ill-timed, as it poses a threat to the negotiation process within Minsk Group. At the moment, the recognition of Karabakh by Armenia will untie Azerbaijan’s hands to provoke military hostilities.

In fact, the discussion of this problem in RA National Assembly was undesirable, let alone the voting. The bill placed the diplomatic corps in an ambiguous situation. Each “no” to this initiative could be assessed as an “against” Karabakh’s recognition”, which in fact distorts the true state of affairs.

If the parliamentary majority and minority could agree on the matter, they would not push the matter through discussion. The acceptable option to both sides should have been considered. The bill could have been put on the agenda and put off till proper time, until a politically expedient time for the bill comes.