The Armenian opposition is boycotting a parliamentary panel tasked with investigating the events behind the 2020 war

The Armenian parliament has established a panel to review the events behind the 44-day war in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020. The parliamentary panel on defence and security will have 11 members participate in its activities. Seven of them, including the commission's chairman, are members of the governing Civil Contract faction.

The two opposition parties in the National Assembly have already released a united statement refusing to participate in the government-appointed commission's work.

The members of the defence and security committee, the majority of whom are members of the ruling side, have been designated its core. Three members represent the opposition "Hayastan" (Armenia) faction, while one deputy represents "I Have Honour." The opposition, however, will not take part in the probe, which will be undertaken by a parliamentary panel, as it was announced on February 11. The opposition's ultimate decision was made public the day after the panel was established, when both groups released a united statement. They argue that a committee cannot be fair if the great majority of its members belong to the ruling party.

Meanwhile, members from non-parliamentary forces will participate in the commission's work, and their status will be defined at the first committee meeting, which will also establish the commission's rules of operation.

Members of the commission will have access to classified papers and information. They will be able to seek and receive information from all officials, as well as anybody else who can provide it. Furthermore, officials will be compelled to attend before the panel and provide testimony; the presence of additional invitees is preferred, but they will have the option of declining. The opposition believes the commission will do everything possible to keep the true circumstances hidden, while also attempting to justify Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his team’s actions by blaming the "former" leaderships (both opposition factions' current leaders are former presidents of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan).

Meanwhile, members from both opposition forces maintain that conducting a thorough inquiry and identifying people accountable for the 44-day war's outcomes is still a top priority.

The governing authority dismissed the opposition's tactics as sabotage, reassuring the public that it has the political will to uncover the truth, even if it raises doubts about the country's political leadership.

Armenia called on UNESCO to protect monuments in Karabakh

In a Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement, Armenia calls on the international community, including UNESCO, to intervene to prevent acts of vandalism against Armenian monuments in Nagorno-Karabakh territories that came under the control of Azerbaijan as a result of hostilities in the autumn 2020.

"In the current situation, the immediate intervention of the international community, in particular UNESCO, and unhindered participation on the spot to preserve the Armenian monuments of Nagorno-Karabakh, which are part of the world cultural heritage, and to prevent cases of vandalism, are becoming increasingly relevant," statement proclaimed.

As specified in the commentary of the Foreign Ministry of the Republic, "the statement of the Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan Anar Karimov on the creation of a working group to change the identity and destroy Armenian religious, historical and cultural monuments under the control of Azerbaijan, pursues the goal of deliberate and illegal appropriation of the historical and cultural heritage of neighbouring peoples”

"This policy of distorting the identity of the Armenian historical and cultural heritage, destroying religious shrines contradicts Azerbaijan's statements about reconciliation and creates serious obstacles to establishing long-term peace in the region," the MFA added.