Have Alen Simonyan and Gagik Baghunts Met? «Haykakan Jamanak»

«Haykakan Jamanak» newspaper reports: Just before the end of last year, the Vice President of the Artsakh National Assembly and Acting President Gagik Baghunts submitted a written request to the President of the RA National Assembly Alen Simonyan, asking for a meeting to discuss inter-parliamentary sessions between Artsakh and Armenia.

However, Alen Simonyan declined, responding that if Baghunts wants to meet as a citizen, he would accept, but not as the acting president of the Artsakh National Assembly. It should be noted that the President of the Artsakh National Assembly, Davit Ishkhanyan, has been in a Baku prison since the events of September, and Baghunts is serving as his replacement.

We asked the spokesperson of the National Assembly if such a request had been made, and if A. Simonyan had accepted Baghunts. Spokesperson Nelly Ghulyan relayed: “Yes, there was an inquiry. Alen Simonyan refused to meet Gagik Baghunts. Regarding a meeting as a citizen of the Republic of Armenia, Mr. Simonyan is ready to meet with any citizen of the Republic of Armenia. There is a prescribed procedure and designated days for this.”

As for whether a meeting has taken place in another capacity, the spokesperson answered that no, there has been none. However, our sources from Artsakh report that Baghunts met with the President of the National Assembly as a citizen. According to our information, the President of the Artsakh National Assembly tried to arrange an Artsakh-Armenia inter-parliamentary discussion-meeting, but the President of the RA National Assembly did not even want to hear about it.