Another Decision Against Artsakh: 'Hraparak'

According to the daily 'Hraparak', the draft amendments to the laws on 'Passports' approved at yesterday's government meeting are reportedly another decision against Artsakh. In any case, the long-term goal is that the names of countries will no longer be indicated in the passports of Artsakh residents.

The justification for the draft states: 'Currently, the birthplace field in an Armenian citizen's passport (or identification card) mentions the state where the citizen was born. This approach creates issues in cases where the citizen's birthplace is an unrecognized state by the Republic of Armenia or an internationally disputed territory. In practice, there are numerous cases where a citizen applies to the Passport and Visa Department of the Armenian Police to change their birthplace, since the mention of any state as the place of birth in an Armenian citizen's passport (or identification card) causes problems for them when exercising their rights in other countries.'

According to the justification, this issue has been discussed with the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which provided an analysis of international experience indicating that the vast majority of developed countries indicate the city, town, or region of birth rather than the state in the passports issued to their citizens, and some countries also specify the state.