NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF ARMENIA TURNS DOWN THE BILL ON RECOGNITION OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH

AZG Armenian Daily
29/04/2008

Karabakh Issue

The Parliament of the Republic of Armenia turned down the Bill on
Recognition of Nagorno- Karabakh Republic, submitted by Heritage
Party leader Raffi Hovannisian, from the general agenda with 64 votes
‘against’ and only 15 votes ‘for’

Independent parliamentarian Victor Dallakyan said the billit should
be put on the agenda to make its discussion possible at any moment,
otherwise it will mean the Armenian parliamentarians are against
recognizing NKR, ‘which will be in favor of the rival’. For his part,
Armen Roustamian, the head of the Parliamentary Commission for Foreign
Affairs, mentioned that it is the President of Armenia who defines the
country’s foreign policy. The Commission for Foreign Affairs expressed
hope that the Parliament, the presidential administration and the
Foreign Ministry would be interested in discussion of the issue,
but the Commission did not make a negative resolution on the bill.

Parliamentary Speaker Tigran Torosian said the international
recognition of NKR is more important than its official recognition by
Armenia. ‘One could hardly ever find a citizen of our country who would
be against recognizing NKR; however, there is time for everything’,
the speaker said. "If necessary, we will make the bill pass bill in
7 minutes’, T. Torosyan stressed.