Armenian MP: Report on 44-day war names guilty parties and traitors

Andranik Kocharyan, chairman of the Armenian National Assembly’s standing committee on defence and security and head of the parliamentary commission investigating the circumstances of the 44-day war, has spoken out about the long-anticipated report.

Recent reports in Armenian media quote Kocharyan as saying that the document is extensive, spanning 215 pages, with the conclusion itself occupying a significant portion, as per Caliber.Az.

He explained that the report contains sections of varying levels of secrecy, the publication of which is subject to legal restrictions.

“This report should serve its purpose: to identify the causes of omissions and mistakes so that our law enforcement agencies can eliminate them as soon as possible. It is unnecessary to say that there is no need to look for the guilty: the document names both the guilty and the traitors,” Kocharyan stressed.

He described the report as both political and legal in nature, but emphasised that he does not hold the powers of an investigator. “I cannot say whether legal action will be taken; that is a different process,” he noted.

However, the handling of the document has already sparked criticism. Yerevan-based Zhokhovurd daily reported that Kocharyan breached National Assembly rules by failing to provide commission members with the 210-page report for review. Parliamentary procedure requires such documents to be circulated in advance, giving deputies the opportunity to submit special opinions. This step was not taken.

Deputies Hayk Sargsyan and Kristine Poghosyan, along with former parliamentarian Vilen Gabrielyan, told the newspaper they had never been given access to the report. According to Zhokhovurd, “Kocharyan violated the requirements of the rules of procedure, effectively concealing the document not only from the public, but also from the members of the commission.”

The dispute escalated further after Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan underscored that all procedural deadlines for presenting the commission’s findings had already expired. He noted that, under the rules of the National Assembly, the report could no longer be placed on the agenda. Moreover, he pointed out that the document had never been legally submitted to the Speaker’s office.

The failure to distribute the report has fueled concerns over transparency in the commission’s work and left open questions about the fate of its findings regarding the 44-day war.

By Tamilla Hasanova