According to Alen Simonyan, Artsakh No Longer Exists as a Legal Entity

The political and legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh has been a deeply contested issue for years, but Armenia’s government no longer recognizes its former leaders or governing structures. Alen Simonyan, Speaker of Armenia’s Parliament, made this clear during a session on Monday, stating that Nagorno-Karabakh no longer exists as a legal entity in the eyes of the current Armenian government.

“Legally, Nagorno-Karabakh does not exist as an entity,” Simonyan declared, referring to the region's recent Azerbaijani occupation. “There are only our deported compatriots [Karabakh Armenians] whose problems the Armenian government is addressing in an excellent way.”

Simonyan's comments came in response to opposition lawmakers who challenged his decision to block sessions of the long-standing Armenia-Karabakh inter parliamentary commission. The commission had been in place for decades, serving as a platform for cooperation between Armenian and Karabakh lawmakers. However, following Azerbaijan’s military takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023, Simonyan argued that there was no longer a need for the commission.

“I think that we must very seriously consider abolishing that format because Nagorno-Karabakh, Artsakh officials don’t exist anymore, and nobody has such a status in Armenia,” Simonyan explained.

He referred to the decision made by Nagorno-Karabakh’s own officials to dissolve the Artsakh Republic. This decision came in the wake of a military offensive by Azerbaijan in September 2023, which resulted in the full occupation of Azerbaijani control over the indigenous Armenian territory. Nagorno-Karabakh’s last president, Samvel Shahramanyan, signed a decree disbanding the region’s governing structures to allow for the safe evacuation of Armenians from the area.

Simonyan’s statements show the Armenian government’s position that the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh is closed for them. He defended Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s administration against accusations from the opposition that it had abandoned the region and its people. 

“Today’s government, which came to power by the people unlike having seized power, did for Artsakh more than any other government,” Simonyan told reporters. He emphasized that Armenia’s current leadership fought for Nagorno-Karabakh until the end, doing everything possible to protect the region. He also referenced the 2021 parliamentary elections, where Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party won a majority vote, as evidence that the Armenian people had endorsed the government’s actions.

Simonyan dismissed opposition claims that the government could have done more to resist Azerbaijan’s advances. He accused his political opponents of using the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh for their own purposes, rather than focusing on the well-being of the forcibly displaced Armenian population.

Despite the government’s stance, opposition members in Armenia continue to challenge the decision to dissolve Nagorno-Karabakh’s institutions. Artur Khachatrian, an opposition lawmaker, argued that the decision to disband the republic helped prevent a “massacre” of ethnic Armenians in the region. He described the decree as null and void, asserting that Nagorno-Karabakh’s leadership acted under duress and that the region still holds significance under Armenian law.

The debate over Nagorno-Karabakh’s legal status also touched on the issue of the Karabakh representation in Yerevan, Armenia’s capital. Simonyan hinted that the Armenian authorities might review the role and function of the building housing Karabakh’s permanent representation in Yerevan. In June 2023, a special police unit raided the building and seized official property, an event that sparked further tensions between Karabakh's exiled leaders and the Armenian government.

Tensions between Armenia’s leadership and the exiled leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh have continued to simmer. Former President Samvel Shahramanyan did not respond to Simonyan’s remarks, but other officials from Artsakh have expressed their frustration. Metakse Hakobyan, an Artsakh lawmaker now living in exile in Yerevan, condemned the Armenian government’s handling of the situation.

“The Republic of Artsakh was occupied by the enemy, Azerbaijan, as a result of the policy pursued by the Armenian authorities,” Hakobyan wrote on social media. She, like many other opposition figures, blames Prime Minister Pashinyan’s administration for the collapse of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Ishkhan Saghatelyan, a leader of Armenia’s main opposition party, also accused the government of shifting blame. He claimed that Pashinyan’s government is now acting in line with Azerbaijan’s demands and attempting to distance itself from responsibility for the region’s fall.

For Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the Nagorno-Karabakh issue appears to be closed. He publicly recognized Azerbaijan’s sovereignty over the region months before Azerbaijan’s September 2023 military offensive. Since then, he has focused on providing aid and support to the tens of thousands of Armenians forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh.

As Armenia’s parliament continues its fall session, the debate over Nagorno-Karabakh’s future remains a key topic. However, for the Armenian government, the focus seems to have shifted toward addressing the needs of displaced Armenians and moving on from the decades-long territorial dispute with Azerbaijan. For opposition lawmakers and many in the Armenian diaspora, however, the loss of Nagorno-Karabakh remains a painful and unresolved issue.