Analysts commented on the participation of Karabakh refugees in the Armenian parliamentary elections.

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Karabakh passports expired in 2025, and all refugees must obtain Armenian citizenship if they wish to vote in the National Assembly elections. Refugees claim that they had previously had the right to participate in the elections, but now their rights have been violated.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," as of March, 34,576 refugees from Karabakh had received Armenian citizenship. Five thousand people have applied for citizenship since the beginning of the year. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) were reluctant to apply for citizenship, believing they were already citizens of Armenia and hoping to return to Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenian authorities made citizenship a mandatory requirement for participation in the housing program. By the end of July, the number of applications for Armenian citizenship from refugees had doubled, with the IDPs themselves calling the passport change a necessary measure.

According to the Migration and Citizenship Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Armenia, nearly 37,000 refugees have received Armenian citizenship, 12,000 of whom are minors.

The situation with the expiration of passports with the 070 code was commented on May 24 to a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by political scientist and head of the Regional Center for Democracy and Security Tigran Grigoryan, political scientist Artur Grigoryan, a refugee from Nagorno-Karabakh and a representative of the "AyaKve (Armenian Voice)" civil movement in Armenia Saida Poghosyan, Karabakh public figure Artak Mkrtchyan, and a lawyer from Nagorno-Karabakh Armen Petrosyan.

"The decision of the Armenian government to invalidate the passports of citizens of Nagorno-Karabakh with the 070 code is unfounded from a legal point of view," said Tigran Grigoryan.

"Even if these people were provided with passports with some reservations, from a legal point of view there is "A principle that prohibits new decisions from placing people in difficult situations. But in fact, until October 2023, residents of Nagorno-Karabakh, even with passports with the 070 code, had the same rights as residents of Armenia. They also had the right to vote, since this was determined by their registered place of residence—that is, if you had a passport with the 070 code but were registered in Armenia, you could participate in Armenia's electoral processes. However, this is no longer the case, which I consider a violation of rights. There are no mechanisms to correct this, although if someone decides to appeal to an international court, I think they will win and have their rights restored. Not only the right to vote, but also the fact that they were illegally deprived of citizenship," he noted.

The political scientist further noted that "the majority of internally displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh are dissatisfied with the current Armenian government, which suggests they will vote for the opposition." "This dissatisfaction is primarily caused by the government's policies toward refugees over the past three years—social problems, the daily spread of hatred by officials, including high-ranking officials and the top leadership of Armenia. However, it cannot be said that the refugees will vote for a specific party. Most likely, their votes will be distributed among various opposition political forces." "I do not rule out that among the refugees there may be supporters of the ruling party who will vote for them," the political scientist said.

Artur Grigoryan recalled that, by decision of the Armenian government, Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh with passports with the code 070 cannot vote in the upcoming elections in Armenia, however, those refugees who have accepted Armenian citizenship and acquired new passports have the opportunity to vote at their place of registration. "From this it follows that the people of Artsakh (Karabakh) were issued Armenian passports, but not Armenian citizenship. The passports of the residents of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) with the code 070 were Armenian, they had the word Republic of Armenia written on them, people could work and live in Armenia, purchase real estate and start a business in Armenia. "The fact that the Armenian authorities have made a mandatory requirement for Karabakh residents to accept Armenian citizenship—only a court can determine whether this is a violation or not," the political scientist noted.

Expecting all refugees to vote for a specific opposition party is extremely wrong.

At the same time, he noted that "it is wrong to assume that Artsakh residents will vote exclusively for the opposition." "I have the opportunity to communicate with residents of different regions of Armenia. Residents in different regions, including the refugees living there, have very different opinions. Some will go to the polls, others have already declared they will not vote, and everyone has different preferences. "Therefore, it would be extremely wrong to expect all refugees to vote for a specific opposition party," Grigoryan expressed his opinion.

"One of the problems facing refugees, along with the lack of housing, is the issue of Armenian citizenship, without which it is impossible to find employment or become a beneficiary of the housing program," recalled Saida Poghosyan.

"The problem with citizenship is that its provision is delayed for up to six months, although the law stipulates one and a half to two months. The Migration Service continues to accept documents, but our movement is often approached by refugees who have been waiting four to five months for new passports. "We admit that this delay is being done deliberately to deprive the people of Artsakh of the right to participate in the elections," Poghosyan said.

"Unfortunately, living in our historical homeland, we cannot participate in the elections, since the current Armenian government has declared our passports to be travel documents," stated Artak Mkrtchyan.

I personally do not intend to change my passport because I have an Armenian passport.

"I consider myself a full citizen of Armenia. Because I have an Armenian passport, and until the fall of 2023, there were no obstacles to using this document or any claims against it. And what is happening now in relation to the people of Artsakh is political games. "I personally don't intend to change my passport because I have an Armenian passport. Furthermore, the process of obtaining a new passport has become problematic; it's dragging on for months. I have acquaintances who submitted their documents back in September and are still waiting for the president's decree," he said.

According to him, "the authorities are trying by all means to close the Artsakh issue and deprive us of the right to return, so the requirement to change passports with code 070 is one of the mandatory conditions set before us."

Armen Petrosyan noted that those living in Armenia, according to the Law on Citizenship, received RA citizenship under Article 10, paragraph 1, while residents of Nagorno-Karabakh received citizenship under Article 10, paragraph 3, which applies to persons of Armenian descent outside Armenia and who do not have citizenship of another state. Petrosyan also recalled the December 1, 1989 declaration, which states: "The Supreme Council of the Armenian SSR and the National Council of Nagorno-Karabakh proclaim the reunification of the Armenian SSR and Nagorno-Karabakh," and also: "The rights of citizenship of the Armenian SSR extend to the population of Nagorno-Karabakh."

What is happening with the citizenship issue constitutes illegal pressure.

According to him, it is necessary to challenge the decisions of the Armenian government through international courts and achieve recognition of passports with the 070 code. "What is happening with the citizenship issue constitutes illegal pressure. However, more than 70,000 Artsakh residents are still in no hurry to obtain citizenship because they fear that without the 070 code, they will lose the right to return to Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and will have problems with their property rights,” the lawyer shared.