Armenian deputies prevented from entering Karabakh (Artsakh)

Deputies of the Armenian National Assembly attempted to go to Karabakh (Artsakh) on Tuesday, but were barred from entering. 

Ishkhan Saghatelyan, a member of the oppositional Armenia Alliance, wrote in a Facebook post that the prevention of his and his colleagues’ entrance to Artsakh is the result of a deal between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to “isolate Artsakh and then evict Armenians [living there]”.

“It is noteworthy that the reaction of the Azerbaijani authorities to our visit was identical and complementary” to that of Armenia’s current government, Saghatelyan continued.

In a statement put out shortly after Saghatelyan’s announcement, Armenia’s  Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it is concerned “about the fact that the servicemen of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno Karabakh did not allow a group of deputies of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia to enter Nagorno Karabakh.”

The ministry noted that these action contradict the November 9 trilateral statement signed after the 2020 war, which envisages the uninterrupted connection of Nagorno Karabakh with Armenia through the Lachin corridor. 

Earlier on Tuesday, lawmakers from the opposition Armenia Alliance and I Have Honor Alliance brought Karabakh flags to the National Assembly building on before walking out of the legislative session in an apparent protest to the government’s new plan to sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan. 

Representatives of the two parties announced that they would be boycotting legislative sessions this week and instead traveling to various border villages in Armenia, as well as villages and towns in Karabakh.

Concerns in Armenia and Karabakh mount over Pashinyan's and Alieyv's agreement last week in Brussels to direct their respective foreign ministries to begin preparing a peace treaty. There is widespread speculation that Pashinyan is preparing to recognize Azerbaijan’s sovereignty over Karabakh.