Dominant parliamentary faction disrupts meeting to discuss Shushi Declaration

ARM INFO
Feb 23 2022
Naira Badalian

ArmInfo.The dominant parliamentary faction Civil Contract has thwarted the opposition's attempt to convene a special meting of Armenia's Parliament on Wednesday, to discuss a draft statement on the ratification of the so-called Shushi  Declaration by the Azerbaijani and Turkish Parliaments. The draft was  introduced by the Armenia opposition faction. 

Armenia's Parliament was to hold a special meeting on the initiative  of the Armenia opposition faction, on Wednesday, to discuss the  Shushi Declaration. The opposition faction proposed that the RA  National Assembly issue a statement condemning the ratification of  the Shushi  Declaration and "expressing deep concern over the  ratification by the  Azerbaijani and Turkish Parliaments of the  declaration the  Azerbaijani and Turkish presidents signed in the  Azerbaijan-occupied  Shushi on June 15, 2021." Back on June 15 and  17, 2021, Armenia's foreign office issued relevant statements.  According to Mr Arsenyan, the statements contained all the key points  incorporated in the opposition-proposed draft. He believes the  Parliament's position must be identical to that of the foreign  office.  In their 2021-2026 programme of action Armenia's authorities  declared a policy of long-lasting peace and stability and are  implementing their foreign policy in line with the programme, with a  view of causing no harm to the declared policy. 

The opposition-proposed document reads that despite the assurances   that the Shushi Declaration is not aimed at a third party, its   content is obviously against the Armenian people.  "It sets the   strategic goals of the two nations that carried out a 44-day   aggression against the Republic of Artsakh, against Artsakh's  self-determination, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the   Republic of Armenia, and the rights of the Armenian people, which   survived a genocide and was scattered throughout the world," Mr   Tevanyan said. 

The wordings concerning the "Zangezur corridor" contained in the  declaration are evidence that Turkey and Azerbaijan are reaching   public agreements on implementation of joint expansionist programmes.   The authors of the statement also condemn the Azerbaijani-Turkish  agreement on struggling against international recognition of the   Armenian Genocide by distorting the essence of the problem and   turning it into a subject of historical research. 

"The Shushi Declaration is not based on the UN Charter or the   OSCE-approved security principles. Rather, it is based on the 'ethnic   security' approach, which is in conflict with the fundamental   international legal norms. According to the Vienna Convention on the   Law of Treaties of 1969, all the international treaties that are in   conflict with the imperative international legal norms are not   legitimate. The provocative and destructive Shushi Declaration is   unacceptable to the Republic of Armenia. It is a serious challenge to  regional and global security, which does not contribute to our   region's peaceful development, is in conflict with normalization of   Armenian-Turkish relations without preconditions and arouses serious   doubts about official Ankara's real intentions," the draft statement   reads.