Important papers were burned: the previous government was abolished in Karabakh

The Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh is in its final months. NKR leader Samvel Shahramanyan issued a decree on its liquidation. From January 1, 2024, there will no longer be such a geopolitical unit. Having existed for 32 years (since September 2, 1991), the independent NKR ceases to exist, without waiting for recognition even from its fellow tribesmen-patrons in Armenia. The republic is returning to “Soviet times,” that is, to being part of Azerbaijan.

Samvel Shahramanyan’s decree is laconic. The document consists of only two paragraphs. The first states that “a decision has been made: to dissolve all state institutions and organizations under their departmental subordination until January 1, 2024, and the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) ceases to exist.”

The second is that the population of Nagorno-Karabakh, including those outside its borders, are invited to familiarize themselves with the conditions of reintegration that Azerbaijan will provide in order to independently decide in the future on the possibility of remaining in the region.

Was it easy for Lieutenant General Samvel Shakhramanyan, a native of Stepanakert, whose career path is connected with almost all the significant positions in the NKR – from the head of the criminal investigation department and the National Security Service to the head of the Security Council, the Secretary of State and the President of the country – to sign this document?

As a person who has worked for a considerable number of years in the special services, he probably understands better than anyone else the state the republic is in now. Bleeded after a year of blockade, deprived of weapons and military support by the Armenian government…

The most valuable thing that remains in NKR now is its citizens. As follows from the preamble of the document, it is for their sake that this difficult decision was made. They are provided with free passage to Armenia along the Lachin corridor.

The process of eliminating a state, even a small and unrecognized one, is a painstaking task. It is not enough to announce to officials that from now on they are free. And for citizens – that other people will now take care of them. After all, these are thousands of decisions and documents. All this needs to be put in order and, if possible, transported. This is the thirty-year history of the republic, which we must try to preserve.

Now in the capital of the NKR, Stepanakert, government institutions are not working; not only people, but also cultural values ​​are being evacuated from the republic, if possible. It is known that some monuments are loaded onto trucks using cranes to be removed. In populated areas there is no communication, electricity, water, gas. Food is not delivered to stores. All this suggests that the state has, in fact, already been eliminated.

The situation with the liquidation of the republic was also reacted to in Russia – in the Kremlin. “We take into account and closely monitor the situation, first of all, of course, the humanitarian aspect, it is the most important. Our peacekeepers continue to assist people, many people now express a desire to go over to the side of Armenia, support is provided to everyone who wants it,” the press secretary said Vladimir Putin Dmitry Peskov.

MK learned from experts about what the liquidation of Nagorno-Karabakh’s statehood might actually look like.

“In this case, all government institutions are abolished, a new administration is introduced, signs on buildings are changed,” an expert on the Middle East and the Caucasus, political scientist Stanislav Tarasov told MK. “The question is whether the Balkan scenario will be implemented there – a joint administration with the participation of Azerbaijanis and Armenians, if Armenians remain at all”

As for state documents, according to some reports, the Karabakh leadership burned and destroyed all important papers in advance. The president’s special archive, most likely, also documents in the security sphere. But something could remain. As for the country’s budget, it is unlikely that there is anything valuable on the territory of Karabakh at the moment. Everything is stored in Armenian banks.