YEREVAN — The Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh held their own elections there until 2023 and did not participate in the elections held in Armenia, although they were holders of the blue passports of the Republic of Armenia. No outside government recognized the results of the elections in Nagorno-Karabakh, nor the self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno Karabakh as a state. Currently, the Armenian government considers these passports as “travel documents” and does not recognize the Karabakh Armenians as citizens of the Republic of Armenia. Thus, after the tragedy that occurred in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023, when the entire population fled to Armenia, their status continues to remain unclear: are they internally displaced persons (IDP), real refugees, or citizens of Armenia – who are they? It seems strange, but with passports with code 070 they can travel to any country in the world, and everyone recognizes these passports, except in Armenia.
Instead, starting in 2023, Armenia issued them refugee certificates, which bear the qualification “temporary refugee protection certificate.” Today, the Armenian government is offering the Karabakh Armenians the possibility of applying for a new passport, which implies becoming a real citizen of the Republic of Armenia. Karabakh Armenians mainly apply for citizenship in order to be able to take advantage of the state’s housing program, for which becoming a citizen is a mandatory requirement.
Many considers this policy of the Armenian government unacceptable, complaining that they hold the same passports as all citizens of Armenia. If they are citizens of Armenia, what is the point of creating such an artificial bureaucracy and forcing people to wait in front of passport offices?
In an interview with Sputnik Armenia, Nelly Davtyan, director of the Migration and Citizenship Service of the Ministry of the Interior of Armenia, was asked whether the process of granting Armenian citizenship to Karabakh Armenians is being deliberately delayed before the elections due to the political views of the latter being perceived as oppositional to the current Armenian government.
Nelly Davtyan responded: “Yes, there is a certain delay. However, this is naturally not due to the pre-election period, but to the fact that we launched a new program on January 1. Objectively, our system is severely overloaded. In four months, we have already received as many applications as we would process in a year. But we are already close to returning to the accelerated process, and I do not exclude that even if a displaced person decides to become an Armenian citizen today, he or she will have time to receive an Armenian passport and participate in the elections. Now the results of all cases under our jurisdiction will be received before the elections, and we have not registered any refusals.”
According to Davtyan, 36,000 Karabakh Armenians have received new passports, 12,000 of whom are minors, and 6,700 applications are pending. This means that only 24,000 Karabakh Armenians, plus a few thousand people who will receive passports before the elections, will be able to vote.
