A bill recognizing the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh has failed to pass the committee stage in the Armenian parliament.
The National Assembly's standing commission on foreign relations decided against submitting to parliament the bill 'On recognition of the independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh republic', initiated by deputies of the opposition Heritage faction, ARMENIA Today reports.
MPs Stepan Safaryan of the Heritage faction and Vahan Hovhannisyan of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutun voted for the bill in the commission, according to the Heritage faction's press service. Armen Rustamyan of the Dashnaktsutun abstained, while five members of the commission from the ruling coalition and one independent deputy voted against.
Presenting the bill to the commission, the head of the Heritage faction, Stepan Safaryan, said: 'Recent statements, and resolutions and reports on the Nagorno-Karabakh republic and resolution of the Karabakh conflict by international bodies would probably not have been made if we had not delayed discussion of the bill, or at least included it on the National Assembly agenda.'
'If we managed to include the Armenian-Turkish protocols, which are of an anti-Armenian nature, on the agenda of the National Assembly and keep them there, then I don't understand why we don’t include the bill on recognition of the NKR. It is not only honourable and in state interests to do this but also politically expedient,' Safaryan said.
No country, not even Armenia which has troops stationed there, has recognized the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh. The territory is legally part of Azerbaijan, but declares itself independent. War was fought over Karabakh between 1988 and 1994, and all the Azerbaijani residents of Karabakh and the surrounding areas have been displaced.
News.Az
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