GALUST SAHAKYAN: HERITAGE PARTY "FLIRTING"

News.am
Oct 26 2009
Armenia

The Heritage party has submitted a bill on recognition of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) to the RA Parliament. The Foreign
Affairs Committee is expected to discus the bill at its next
sitting. The Heritage Party believes that the adoption of the bill
will legalize the NKR’s status quo. The document will also regulate
the Armenia-NKR relations, facilitate the ensuring of NKR’s security
and the international recognition of the country.

The other parliamentary factions, however, disagree with their
colleagues. Talking to NEWS.am, Gagik Tsarukyan, Chairman of the
Prosperous Armenia Party, said: "Let the Heritage Party resolve its
own problems first and then deal with the Nagorno-Karabakh problem."

Galust Sahakyan, head of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) faction
said: "It is nothing, but flirt. By doing so the Heritage Party wants
to show it loves Nagorno-Karabakh more than others. If the Armenian
Parliament adopts the bill, it means that we withdraw from the Minsk
process and negotiations."

Yeghishe Bisharyan, head of the Country of Law faction, shares her
colleagues’ opinion. She considers the bill unacceptable, as "issues
of such importance must be dealt with at a much higher level than
that of the National Assembly." The adoption of the bill will not be
of any benefit to the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, she said.

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) member Hrair Karapetyan,
Chairman of the Committee on Defense, National Security and Internal
Affairs, voiced a different opinion. He stressed Armenia should spare
no efforts for international recognition of the NKR’s status. He
pointed out it is unacceptable that the bill be submitted to the
Parliament and rejected by the majority. "I am absolutely sure of such
an outcome. It will be a strong blow on the process of international
recognition of the NKR. It means we are giving our opponents good
weapons to fight us. Our opponents will certainly remember that even
Armenia once refused to recognize the NKR. That is why we think the
Parliament must not reject the bill. If it will, the bill had better
not be put on the agenda at all," Karapetyan said.

The Heritage Party once submitted a similar bill to the Parliament,
but it was not put on the agenda.