Armenian Parliament speaker calls for dissolution of so-called NK commission

Armenian Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan has proposed dissolving the Armenia-Nagorno-Karabakh interparliamentary commission, citing the incompetence of the "other side," Azernews reports, citing Sputnik Armenia.

Simonyan made these remarks during a session when Artsvik Minasyan, secretary of the Hayastan faction, asked whether he planned to convene a meeting of the commission after a three-year hiatus. Simonyan stated that, in his view, there are no longer any officials representing Nagorno-Karabakh, and the title "president of Nagorno-Karabakh" no longer exists. He emphasized that the dissolution of the commission should be seriously considered.

Simonyan pointed out that only one meeting of the commission was held in 2021, with a second one planned but later canceled due to health concerns of the then speaker of the Karabakh parliament. He questioned the relevance of discussing the commission now, arguing that Nagorno-Karabakh effectively dissolved itself by decree from its leader.

Artsvik Minasyan disagreed with Simonyan, pointing out that the concept of the "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" is still preserved in various documents, including international treaties, and that no single person has the authority to dissolve it or nullify these documents.

Artur Khachatryan, another member of the Hayastan faction, noted that last year, a decree on the dissolution of Nagorno-Karabakh was signed solely to prevent a massacre of the Armenian population, given the disparity in forces. He added that the leader of Nagorno-Karabakh, Samvel Shahramanyan, who signed the decree, later stated that he had revoked his own decree.