What Percentage of Forcefully Displaced Artsakh Residents Have Obtained Armenian Citizenship?

The newspaper "Pats" reports that, according to official information, by September 26, 2024, a total of 112,233 individuals displaced forcefully from Nagorno-Karabakh have applied for temporary protection status. However, it is noteworthy that only 4,918 of them have requested Armenian citizenship, and moreover, 83 of these individuals later withdrew their applications. As of that date, citizenship has been granted to 3,226 Artsakh residents.

Considering that the latest updated data indicates that 115,359 citizens have been forcefully displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh, it turns out that only 4 percent have applied for citizenship, while approximately 3 percent have actually obtained it.

What do these figures indicate? It is clear that the Artsakh residents have concerns about losing the support provided to displaced individuals. However, that is a secondary issue. There is a significant fear that by accepting citizenship, the prospect of returning to Artsakh would be closed. Yet the people of Artsakh have not lost hope for their return. Unlike the authorities in Azerbaijan and Nikol Pashinyan, the topic of Artsakh is not closed for the forcibly displaced residents.

Another concern is the lack of trust in the current Armenian authorities, who hold no authority in the eyes of the Artsakh residents. Furthermore, they lack the moral right to make judgments regarding the fate of the forcibly displaced individuals, which has been personally "erased" by Nikol Pashinyan from the list of Armenian citizens.