Karabakh Armenians hold passports yet lack citizenship

By Hayk Ghazaryan

Tens of thousands of Karabakh Armenians carried Armenian passports that looked identical to those of Armenian citizens. But when Azerbaijan’s September 2023 offensive forced the population of Nagorno-Karabakh to flee, Armenian authorities said these documents were only “travel papers” and did not confer citizenship.

Officials pointed to a 1999 agreement on “organising the passport system” between Yerevan and the then-Nagorno-Karabakh authorities. Yet the text of that accord remains classified, fuelling confusion, contradictory official statements, and a wave of legal disputes.

Deputy Interior Minister Arpine Sargsyan (now Armenia’s interior minister) said in October 2023 that passports issued with a special “070” code for Karabakh residents did not prove Armenian nationality. Justice officials and migration chiefs echoed the same view. Armenian officials have repeatedly claimed the 1999 accord restricted the passports’ function to travel abroad. The European Court of Human Rights, in its 2015 Chiragov v. Armenia ruling, cited Article 1 of the document, which said such passports could only be used for travel outside Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, and not as internal proof of identity.

But the agreement itself remains classified. When CivilNet requested access, the foreign ministry confirmed in March 2024 that the document bore a “secret” stamp and that its declassification date had not yet expired.

Former Karabakh prime minister Jirair Poghosyan recalled that in 1998–99 Karabakh Armenians had no access to foreign travel and he informally negotiated with Armenian passport authorities to assign the “070” code. “There was no protocol, no signed paper — it was just a verbal deal,” Poghosyan said. Others who held senior posts at the time, including two successive Karabakh interior ministers, said they neither recalled nor ever saw such an agreement.

The ambiguity did not prevent Karabakh Armenians from serving in Armenia’s state institutions, armed forces, judiciary and prosecution system for years. Many held senior positions. The key restriction was electoral: those registered in Karabakh could not vote in Armenian elections, but if they established residence inside Armenia they were automatically enfranchised.

Lawyer Ara Ghazaryan notes that the contradiction lies in Armenia’s own law: under the passport law, anyone holding a document marked “citizen of Armenia” is by definition a citizen. 

Civil society groups are now pressing the state for clarity. The NGO “Rights Without Borders” sued the interior ministry to release the 1999 document in full. An administrative court ruled in its favour, but the ministry appealed, claiming it held no such records. The ministry has, at the same time, justified its position by citing the very same 1999 “decision,” repeatedly telling the public that Karabakh passports were never proof of Armenian citizenship.

The 1995 citizenship law recognised as Armenians those permanently resident in Armenia, former Soviet Armenian citizens abroad, and ethnic Armenians without other citizenship, but did not explicitly mention Karabakh residents. As of August 22, 2025, Interior Ministry figures show 10,659 Karabakh Armenians have since obtained Armenian citizenship, while 15,272 more applications are pending. Another 109,344 have received temporary protection certificates, which do not guarantee full civic rights.

Until 2023, Karabakh Armenians with “070” passports worked across Armenia’s state system and armed forces. Now, both civil service and military careers require them to “obtain citizenship” formally through new documentation. For many, the paradox remains stark: a passport that once opened doors to travel, office and service, but that today leaves its holders in a state of legal uncertainty.