Armenian opposition to hold emergency parliamentary session over Artsakh
Armenia’s opposition factions will attempt to hold an emergency parliamentary session today to discuss the future of the breakaway state of Artsakh.
Artsakh—which occupies a portion of the Nagorno-Karabakh region—sits squarely in the larger border disputes between Azerbaijan and Armenia and is internationally recognized as belonging to Azerbaijan.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan recently hinted at a pro-Azerbaijani stance regarding the status of the Nagorno-Karabakh region in a bid to mend Armenia-Turkey relations. In response, opposition factions held mass rallies and demand a resolution on Artsakh’s sovereignty.
Today’s draft resolution supports the sovereignty of Artsakh with Armenia as its sole security guarantor, a land connection between Armenia and Artsakh and the withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops from the area—with the intention to finalize the demarcation of Artsakh’s borders. In the context of Armenian-Turkish relations, the opposition maintains that it would refuse a potential land connection with Artsakh if this meant a dual connection to Azerbaijan and Turkey.
The ruling Civil Contract party is unlikely to participate in today’s session. The Russia-Ukraine war has sapped Russia’s ability to back Armenia, and Turkey is becoming the power broker in the conflict. Repairing Armenia-Turkey relations may provide the country with better bargaining ability in the future.
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