Berdzor Incident: Nikol Pashinyan proposes Galust Sahakyan to send MPs to Karabakh (video)
The 7th session of the National Assembly of fifth convocation began with the national anthem. At the beginning of the session, NA Chairman Galust Sahakyan made a statement expressing his condolences over the death of the Avetisyan family killed in Gyumri earlier this month and the soldiers killed in recent ceasefire violations by Azerbaijan. The National Assembly observed a minute's silence in memory of the victims. In his speech, opposition lawmaker Nikol Pashinyan said regardless of their political affiliation, lawmakers become united in issues concerning Karabakh. “The appalling incident that occurred in Berdzor on Saturday was a serious blow to Nagorno Karabakh. The incident has shocked our people who are waiting for an answer. I have a proposal for you, Mr Sahakyan. Let us form a delegation from lawmakers and send them to Stepanakert to discuss the incident on the spot,” said Pashinyan. Eduard Sharmazanov, Deputy Chairman of the Armenian National Assembly urged his colleagues to address questions exclusively on the agenda, while Galust Sahakyan said he would try to discuss this issue with his colleagues from Karabakh. Police in Nagorno-Karabakh stopped on Saturday members of the Founding Parliament, a successor of the Pre-Parliament pressure group, who were holding an automobile rally to Karabakh. Among the participants were also Jirayr Sefilian, a former commander of Shushi special battalion, and other veterans of the Karabakh war, who are said to have beaten up by the Karabakh police and young men wearing special police task force uniforms. The Founding Parliament says more than a dozen participants of the automobile rally were injured in the incident that happened on the Goris-Stepanakert highway near Berdzor. Journalist Anushavan Shahnazaryan was also hospitalized with injuries in Goris.
