Artsakh-Armenia: What Are the Possible New Directions of Cooperation?

• 11.15.2017, 18:59
• Liana Hovhannisyan
•  "Insight" Analytical Center ,  World,  Armenia,  NKR

Last week another session of Armenia-Artsakh inter-parliamentary commission took place. During the meeting a reference was made to the discussions on Karabakh conflict on international platforms, underlining the necessity and importance of voicing the stance of Artsakh during those discussions. Such a choice of the topic is itself important, but it will not be correct to be satisfied only by the commitment of the RA NA deputies to present Artsakh’s stance on various platforms. Taking into consideration the existing experience of cooperation, it is necessary to define new directions of work for the parliamentary diplomacy of the two countries, which will result in the efficient use of the existing potential.

For the parliaments of he two countries, as an important issue can be considered the engagement of Artsakh representatives in the parliamentary and other formats of cooperation via joint and coordinated efforts. In particular, active work should be done to engage official Stepanakert in the international discussions on Artsakh taking into consideration the existing precedents (for example, Kosovo).

The parliaments of Artsakh and Armenia, using their international connections, can conduct targeted work to open the offices of international conflict transformation and humanitarian organizations in Artsakh.

Another direction of productive work can be strengthening the international connections of Artsakh parliamentarians. In this context, it will be useful to engage Artsakh parliamentarians in the meetings with the MPs of different countries (among others also in the format of parliamentary friendship groups).

In the framework of the bilateral cooperation special attention should be made also to the development of Artsakh experts’ skills and the possibilities to widen their international connections.

The above mentioned directions of the cooperation between parliaments of Artsakh and Armenia can become a wide sphere for the use of the existing potential. It is important to realize that the obstacles of non-recognition can be overcome by the use of innovative approaches.