On Tuesday (21 March) the Armenian parliament refused to back self-determination for the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, rejecting a motion tabled by the opposition Hayastan alliance.
According to RFE/RL's Armenian Service, the document, which the ruling Civil Contract party refused to even debate because of references to the "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" and self-determination, argued that Baku’s actions show that Karabakh cannot be a part of Azerbaijan and that self-determination of its ethnic Armenian population is the only way to ensure its security.
The document's rejection by the parliamentary majority then sparked "bitter recriminations and insults" between pro-government and opposition deputies in Yerevan.
This is not the first time that the pro-government majority has blocked such a motion, having done so back in December when a similar resolution was put forward by Hayastan and the second main opposition force, Pativ Unem.
Unlike past decades when successive Armenian governments championed the Karabakh Armenians’ right to self-determination, one year ago Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and other senior Armenian officials stopped making references to it in public statements. Instead they have since spoken about the need to ensure "the rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh".