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The passports of Artsakh Armenians are the same blue passports as all citizens of Armenia (Marut Vanyan Photo)
Armenia & Karabakh

Karabakh Refugees Face Hard Time Voting in Armenia’s Upcoming Elections

by
Marut Vanyan
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YEREVAN — On May 29 Karabakh (Artsakh) lawyers gathered at their office in Yerevan, where they explained the procedure by which Karabakh Armenians with Armenian code 070 passports and citizenship can restore their right to vote.

Karabakh Armenians hold passport issued by the Republic of Armenia, but the Armenian government considers it only a travel document and suggests applying for a new passport, only after which they can be considered full citizens of Armenia. After the 2023 exodus, 25,126 Karabakh Armenians have received a “new” Armenian passport, which means that they have the right to vote (making up nearly 2.5 million total eligible voters), while the names of the rest were not included in the voter lists and are deprived of the fundamental right to vote.

Earlier, at least three court decisions confirmed that persons with passport code 070 are considered citizens of Armenia, and it was stated that the name of that person must be included in the electoral lists. The court refers to the RA Law “On Citizenship” and International conventions.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs considers the spread of the news on social media as misleading, claiming that Karabakh Armenians can vote on June 7, and made a clarifying statement.

“Since yesterday, misleading information regarding the voting rights of displaced persons (Karabakh Armenians) has been spread on social media, stating that it is possible to acquire the right to vote and be included in the voter lists without applying for and receiving Armenian citizenship, which is not true. Our compatriots displaced from Karabakh have been taken under the protection of the Republic of Armenia, having acquired temporary protection – refugee status. Therefore, the only way to obtain the right to participate in the NA elections on June 7 of this year is to obtain RA citizenship in order to satisfy the key criterion of being a citizen of the Republic of Armenia within the framework of the formation of the right to vote.”, reads in the statement.

Previously, the difficulty of the status of Karabakh Armenians was associated with obtaining housing or jobs, then in the run-up to the elections, the issue has become even more acute as most are not considered eligible voters.

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“Over the past week, four Artsakh Armenians have applied for judicial protection with a request to be included in their voter lists. The applications of three out of the four applicants were satisfied by a judicial act,” lawyer Roman Yeritsyan said in a conversation with journalists at the Artsakh representation. “In other words, the courts satisfied the claims of Artsakh Armenians in three different decisions. Moreover, these decisions enter into force from the moment of issuance and are not subject to appeal. One application was rejected due to another circumstance. It was purely due to the fact that the dispute is subject to examination not in civil, but in administrative proceedings. It did not say that an Artsakh Armenian does not have the right to vote. And the other three judicial acts clearly stated that an Artsakh Armenians, regardless of having a passport with code 070, having citizenship or not, has the right to vote,” Yeritsyan added.

Pashinyan’s poster with the slogan “Stand for peace” in a children’s playground in Yerevan. (Marut Vanyan Photo)

The passport difficulties of Artsakh Armenians began after their displacement in 2023. After the bread queues during the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, they began to stand in line in front of passport offices in Armenia. Afterwards, the process began to be carried out online, which made the process a little easier but to this day they face bureaucratic hassles. This issue became even more acute in the run-up to the elections.

Most Artsakh Armenians see intent on the part of the Armenian government and believe that it is being done on purpose so that they cannot vote, given their oppositional views.

“All Karabakh Armenians in Echmiadzin support Karapetyan or Kocharyan, but many do not have Armenian citizenship, so they cannot vote. I personally applied for citizenship months ago, but I am still waiting like this,” said a Karabakh woman.

“Honestly, I don’t care about politics, I applied for an Armenian passport and citizenship so that I could benefit from the housing program. I haven’t decided who I’ll vote for yet, but it’s not Pashinyan’s party,” added a Karabakh man.

During the campaign, hate speech towards Karabakh Armenians has become even more intense, almost unbearable (perhaps there is no need to mention Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s calls to stay and die).

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Rally in Stepanakert, 14 July 2023. (Marut Vanyan Photo)

Armenians have always talked about unity, that Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora are one united body, however, beyond patriotism, the picture is not pleasant. It would be logical and desirable if those with opposing political views respected each other’s opinions, but in this pre-election period, the matter has reached stabbings, like the murder that shocked Armenia on May 26 in the Kotayk region, which occurred as a result of a dispute over the elections.

In the context of the elections, the other “undesirable” Armenians are the Armenians from Russia. There are publications suggesting that Russia will export them to vote.

“The Kremlin could send up to 100,000 voters to the Armenian elections to ensure Pashinyan’s defeat. Armenians living in Russia will be forced to vote against the party of current Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in the parliamentary elections, Reuters reports, citing Western intelligence sources,” Deutsche Welle wrote in a story.

June 7 won’t be the end of Armenia. The question is how things will play out after the votes are counted. The problem is how “good” and “bad,” “real” and “fake” Armenians will live together after the storm subsides.

 

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