Author: Sonya Jalatian

The Armenian parliament did not pass a statement on Artsakh drafted by the opposition Armenia and With Honor factions after urgent debates on the border situation during a special session of the National Assembly held behind the closed doors on Tuesday.

The statement read out by With Honor faction MP Tigran Abrahamyan on Wednesday condemned the 2020 Azerbaijani-Turkish aggression against Artsakh, involving terrorist groups and mercenaries.

The gross violations of international law with regard to prisoners of war and civilian captives, even after the end of hostilities, as well as continuous provocations against Artsakh and the invasion of the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia were also condemned.

The statement highlighted that Azerbaijan continues to use hate rhetoric, incite Armenophobia, disseminate distorted information and make territorial claims against Armenia.

The state borders are determined on the basis of international law, the UN Vienna Convention, which stipulates, inter alia, that any agreement on borders using or threatening to use force is invalid. The right of the people of Artsakh to live on their historical land and the de-occupation of the territories of Artsakh is the key precondition for establishing peace in the region in the OSCE Minsk Group format, the draft statement said.

It also obliged the Armenian government to refrain from engaging in negotiations, written or verbal agreements, which would run against the Armenian Constitution and the will of the Armenian people enshrined in the Declaration of Independence.

In addition, accoridng to the document, the authorities had to provide information about the army reforms, as well as step up the modernization of security system to make it in line with the post-war challenges.

The head of the ruling Civic Contract party’s parliamentray faction, Hayk Konjoryan, said that  they received the draft document on Tuesday afternoon, and the political majority was not involved in drafting the statement.

He stated that the statement included certain wording of domestic political nature, reflecting the opposition’s political approaches. Meanwhile, he said, a document on such an important issue should be consensual.

Therefore, Konjoryan announced his facton’s decision not to take part in the voting.

The statement failed to be adopted after receiving 26 votes.

Baku does not rule out the possibility of new meeting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers, spokesperson for Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry Leyla Abdullayeva said on Thursday.

"We consider it useful to discuss the issues of normalizing relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the post-conflict period. Earlier a meeting of the foreign ministers of the two countries took place in New York, and we don’t exclude the possibility of holding such meetings in the future," Azerbaijani media quoted Abdullayeva as saying.

She noted at the present stage it’s necessary to pay serious attention to the implementation of joint statements signed by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia, highlighting the "opening of communications and border demarcation”.