Three independent MPs say the Armenian National Assembly’s ruling My Step faction has not responded to their request to include, in a special session of the parliament, a draft statement that reiterates Armenia’s support of self-determination for the people or Artsakh and rules out any status of Artsakh within Azerbaijan.

The bill deals with the Republic of Artsakh as constituted within the boundaries of the former Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Region and does not include the “liberated” territories returned to Azerbaijan as stipulated by the November 9, 2020 ceasefire.

The bill reads, in part:

"The peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs will continue to be the foreign policy priority of the Republic of Armenia, based on the right of the people of Artsakh to self-determination without any restrictions. The Republic of Armenia will support the settlement of the issue in a way acceptable to the Artsakh Republic, which excludes any status of Artsakh within Azerbaijan, guaranteeing the necessary level of security for Artsakh, Armenia's reliable, secure land connection with Artsakh.”

The authors of the bill (MPS Sofia Hovsepyan, Anna Grigoryan and Taguhie Tovmasyan), at a press briefing today, said that they had written to National Assembly Speaker Ararat Mirzoyan, requesting that the bill be included in the agenda of the special session, but Mirzoyan replied that they should petition the group of deputies initiating the parliamentary special session.

The MPs say they did so but did not receive any response. Thus, the statement was not included in the agenda of the session.

Hovsepyan said the parliamentary majority once again ignores the issue of Artsakh's status.

She notes that the Artsakh National Assembly and Armenia’s foreign and defense ministries agreed with the bill’s text.

"If we do not accept that Shushi and Hadrut are occupied, what do we expect from the world?" Tovmasyan asked.

Tovmasyan said that Armenia, as a state, should declare, in a document, that Artsakh is occupied and that it is incomprehensible why the current government avoids expressing this.