Vote on recognition of Karabakh’s independence postponed in Armenian parliament

YEREVAN, October 28. /ARKA/. On Thursday, Armenian National Assembly postponed the vote on Zharangutiun opposition faction’s bill calling for recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s independence, ARKA News Agency’s correspondent reports.

The postponement proposal came from Raffi Havhanisian, chairman of the faction and former foreign minister.

He reminded to his fellow MPs that a day earlier, at the meeting with the speaker, the ruling coalition member parties proposed the postponement finding it reasonable to wait for the OSCE summit scheduled for December 1.

At the same time, Hovhanisian thinks things are unlikely to change either before or after the summit.

“However, if the parliament’s majority needs time, we are not opposed to it… We agree to wait until December 9,” he said.

Hovhanisian said this would be a landmark decision.

On December 10, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic will mark the 19th anniversary of the independence referendum.

Before the vote, Galust Sahakyan, head of ruling Republican Party’s faction, speaking on behalf of the ruling coalition members - Republican Party, Prosperous Armenia and Orinats Yerkir, stated that MPs from these governing parties would refrain from voting.

“Supporting all the efforts to obtain international recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, we are still convinced that a unilateral recognition by Armenia is not in tune with Armenian president’s constructive stance in the negotiations brokered by OSCE Minsk Group,” Sahakyan said.

He stressed that Armenia remains steadfast in seeking a peaceful solution to Karabakh problem, but said it would be better to refrain from steps that could undermine the negotiations.

If the talks fail, the ruling coalition will initiate steps aimed at recognition of the republic’s independence and support other political parties’ initiatives, he said.

Karabakh conflict broke out in 1988 when Karabakh, mainly populated by Armenians, declared its independence from Azerbaijan.

On December 10, 1991, a few days after the collapse of the Soviet Union, a referendum took place in Nagorno-Karabakh, and the majority of the population (99.89%) voted for secession from Azerbaijan.

Afterwards, large-scale military operations began. As a result, Azerbaijan lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven regions adjacent to it.

Some 30,000 people were killed in this war and about one million people fled their homes.

On May 12, 1994, the Bishkek cease-fire agreement put an end to the military operations.

Since 1992, talks brokered by OSCE Minsk Group are being held over peaceful settlement of the conflict. The group is co-chaired by USA, Russia and France. -0---