ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT CHIEF CRITICIZES BILL TO RECOGNIZE NAGORNO-KARABAKH

The New Anatolian
Aug 31 2007
Turkey

The speaker of Armenia’s parliament has criticized a bill calling
for the official recognition of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

The draft legislation was authored by Raffi Hovannisian, a former
foreign minister who heads the opposition Zharangutyun (Heritage)
party.

It consists of two paragraphs — that Armenia recognizes the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, and that the law enters into force once
it’s officially published.

Hovannisian demanded that Armenia change a long-standing policy and
formally recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent state.

Stepan Safarian, a parliament deputy from Hovannisian’s Zharangutyun
party, said the latest deadlock in Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks
is a major reason for the bill’s circulation. He expressed hope that
the pro-government majority in the National Assembly will back it.

Parliament speaker Tigran Torosian, who has approved the bill for
submission to parliamentary committees, told the Armenian media on
Wednesday that the bill is misguided.

"The issue of recognizing the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic should
not be connected to this bill," he said. "The recognition of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic by the Republic of Armenia should have a
serious foundation. It is not right when people who are not informed
about the details and modality of the process of negotiations for
obvious reasons introduce bills like this one to the parliament."

Armenian sources said the ruling party opposes the bill and its
rejection is certain.

A spokesman for Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry, Khazar Ibrahim,
criticized the initiative, saying today that Armenia’s political
opposition should "recognize their mistakes" instead of "recognizing
Azerbaijan’s territory as their own."

Nagorno-Karabakh is enclave predominantly populated by ethnic Armenians
that that declared its independence from Azerbaijan in 1991. The move
led to a bloody war between Armenia and Azerbaijan that ended when
Russian brokered a cease-fire in 1994.

To this day the conflict remains "frozen," and no country, including
Armenia, recognizes the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The new bill will be distributed to committees for consideration
before a reading by the National Assembly, which begins its fall
session on September 10.