Opposition Demands Special Meeting from Andranik Kocharyan

Members of the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Defense and Security, Tigran Abrahamyan, Arthur Ghazinyan, Gegham Nazaryan, and Gegham Manukyan have once again addressed the committee's chairman Andranik Kocharyan, demanding a special meeting to be convened on October 15 at 1:00 PM to discuss the situation in Syunik.

The request states: "Guided by Article 14, Part 2, and Article 122 of the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, as well as Article 14, Part 1 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, Article 6, Part 1, Clause 3 of the Law on Defense, and Articles 5, 6, and 28 of the Law on State Border, and to implement parliamentary oversight over fulfilling the objectives stated in Chapters 1.1 and 1.3 of the Government's 2021-2026 program, we demand that a special meeting of the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Defense and Security be convened on October 15, 2021, at 1:00 PM with the following agenda:

1. To hear reports and clarifications from the heads of the National Security Service, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, the Chief of the General Staff, and the Prosecutor General regarding the situation at the southeastern border of Armenia.
2. Based on the aforementioned reports and clarifications, to establish a working group.

The purpose of the special meeting is to obtain explanations and clarifications from representatives of the Armenian executive power on the following issues:

1. The Minister of Defense and the Chief of the General Staff must explain under what circumstances and by whose order the Armenian Armed Forces and volunteers were withdrawn from the positions occupied as of November 9, 2020, and provide concrete grounds for the danger of military escalation.
2. The Minister of Foreign Affairs must explain to the Committee to what extent the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was involved in this process, whether the requirements of the Law on State Border were maintained, and whether there was any binding international treaty for Armenia.
3. The Prosecutor General must explain the constitutional and legal grounds for changes to the state border and clarify the legal basis for initiating or rejecting a criminal case under Article 300.2, Article 309, Part 3, and Article 299 of the Criminal Code.
4. The Director of the National Security Service must report on the actions and measures taken by the border guard troops of the NSS in maintaining the state border and clarify what actions are planned to be taken against the entities responsible for violating the territorial integrity of Armenia and its external borders.

The call for the special meeting of the Standing Committee on Defense and Security is conditional upon the fact that Azerbaijan's armed forces have occupied part of Armenia's sovereign territory since December 16, 2020, obstructing and creating barriers to the free movement of Armenian and foreign citizens across Armenia's sovereign territory, threatening and intimidating civilians living in those areas and those traveling along the Goris-Kapan highway.

The Chairman of the NA's Standing Committee on Defense and Security is OBLIGED to convene the special meeting on October 15 of this year and ENSURE the presence of the aforementioned officials at this meeting.

Considering the vital importance of the issues included in the agenda and the significant public interest, we plan to hold the meeting in an open-door mode and do not anticipate any release of state secrets.

Attached is the draft decision of the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Defense and Security regarding the establishment of a working group for the preliminary discussion, review, and presentation of the results of the reports and clarifications from the heads of the NSS, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Defense, Chief of the General Staff, and Prosecutor General regarding the situation at the southeastern border of Armenia.