Speaker of Parliament clarifies when border delimitation regulation takes effect
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YEREVAN, OCTOBER 22, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan has addressed the question whether Azerbaijan is undertaking processes regarding the ratification of the border delimitation regulation.
Simonyan stressed that Armenia and Azerbaijan have different legal systems.
“We are a parliamentary country, while Azerbaijan is a presidential country. And after all, this regulation will take effect when the two sides exchange the protocols that the process is completed. This means that if so happens that Azerbaijan doesn’t ratify the regulation, the process done by our side won’t have any legal force. This is a condition. And after all, we have agreed upon all points. Our ratification of the regulation doesn’t contain any risks because it doesn’t take legal force until we’ve exchanged protocols on the process being completed,” he said.
The Armenian parliament is debating the ratification of the Armenia-Azerbaijan regulation on the joint activity of the border delimitation commissions.
Both opposition factions, the Hayastan and Pativ Unem, have announced that they won’t participate in the debates and the vote. The opposition MPs argued that Azerbaijan could refuse to ratify it, thus Armenia’s ratification is contentious. This argument has been rejected as unfounded by the ruling Civil Contract MPs.
Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan, addressing similar concerns on what would happen in case of risks of escalation after the regulation takes effect, said that the main function of the regulation is for disputes to be resolved in the platform that would be created in the event of approving the regulation, and not through force.
“I think in this case it would be very strange for the parties to resolve any given dispute militarily. We haven’t given the occasion for such a thing to happen. Our previous agreements are sufficient to assess that the format of solving issues through the meetings of the commissions is efficient and functioning. If there is a functioning format, and in case of an existing mechanism of that format a military action were to happen it would not have any explanation. Moreover, it would be illegitimate. We consider that this issue must be resolved through bilateral talks, without any mediators,” Grigoryan said.