Project to Establish Fact-Finding Group Developed by 'Bright Armenia'

Edmon Marukyan, a member of the National Assembly from the 'Bright Armenia' faction, writes on his Facebook page: "The war took away our most precious possessions, and we will confront the consequences of that war for many years to come. We still need to understand and deeply analyze the lessons learned from our defeat. We have all witnessed the conflicting statements and mutual accusations that have persisted throughout and after the 44-day war, as well as the security, political, and socio-economic challenges that have arisen as a result of the war.

In this regard, aiming to uncover the objective truth regarding the causes of the war and the defeat we suffered, a project has been developed by the 'Bright Armenia' faction to establish a Fact-Finding Group. According to the draft, the fact-finding group will include representatives from the political forces that participated in the last parliamentary elections and occupied the first six places (three parliamentary forces with four representatives each, and three extra-parliamentary forces with one representative each), as well as the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia (a total of 16 members).

The subject of the fact-finding group's investigation will include:

• The course of the military operations that began on September 27, 2020, and lasted for 44 days along the contact line between the Armenian and Azerbaijani armed forces;
• Events leading up to the war (including on the diplomatic front, with respect to arms acquisitions, etc.) that could have served as the basis for the initiation of the war and our subsequent defeat;
• Post-war circumstances carried out in accordance with the obligations undertaken by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia N. V. Pashinyan, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan I. H. Aliyev, and the President of the Russian Federation V. V. Putin, as per the declaration signed on November 9, 2020, as well as other events that are directly the result of the war.

The members of the fact-finding group will operate on a voluntary basis.

The fact-finding group will present a report to the National Assembly based on its findings (including special opinions, if available), outlining the facts regarding the course of the war and events in the pre-war and post-war phases, along with supporting evidence and any comments provided to the members of the fact-finding group. Naturally, we recognize that this report may have significant legal and political implications and that the work surrounding it should be conducted as impartially and thoroughly as possible. Therefore, up to 10 months have been allocated for the group's work.

Draft examples have already been sent to the aforementioned political forces, as well as the Office of the Human Rights Defender, from which we expect feedback and suggestions. By consolidating these, a finalized version could be circulated in the form of a government decision or draft legislative act."