Recognition of Karabakh's independence postponed in parliament

Armenia's parliament postponed voting on a draft submitted by Zharangutyun (Heritage) Party proposing to recognize the independence of Artsakh Republic (Nagorno Karabakh) till December 9.

Leader of Zharangutyun Party Raffi Hovhanissian himself came up with the initiative to postpone the voting.
The draft was due to voted on during today's parliamentary session.

Head of parliamentary faction of the Republican Party of Armenia Galust Sahakyan had said that the coalition would vote against it, should it be proposed at the moment.

The peace talks over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are spearheaded by the OSCE Minsk Group - US, France and Russia.

Earlier today the coalition issued a statement saying that unilateral recognition of Artsakh's independence by Armenia will harm the peace talks and "is not in line with the constructive stance adopted by Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan" in the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group.

"The ruling political coalition states that it will not take part in the vote on a draft that recognizes the independence of the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh," read the statement.

Earlier in the week Chairperson of the Armenia's National Assembly Hovik Abrahamyan said that the parliament will vote on that draft, should the president propose them to do so.

"If the President proposes that the Armenian parliament recognize Nagorno-Karabakh's independence after the trilateral meeting in Astrakhan on October 27, it is no problem," he had said.