STEPANAKERT, FEBRUARY 18, ARMENPRESS. The Parliament of Artsakh adopted the bill on the “Occupied Territories of the Republic of Artsakh” at the second reading, State Minister Artak Beglaryan said on social media.

“The National Assembly has just adopted the bill on the “Occupied Territories of the Republic of Artsakh”. The works on developing the bill have started months before in the government. We understand very well that we have limited legal mechanisms to fulfill the functions mentioned in the law and achieve the goals, but we ought to maximally use the existing legal and political mechanisms on that direction. The territories of the Republic of Artsakh must be de-occupied, and our citizens must return to their homes”, he said.

All factions represented in the parliament of Artsakh recently put into circulation a draft law on the Occupied Territories of Artsakh, according to which there will be a ban on those foreign companies which will want to carry out activity in the territories of Artsakh occupied by Azerbaijan, without the permission of the Artsakh government. The bill also states that the territories of the Republic of Artsakh which have been captured by the Azeri forces during the conflict are considered as "occupied territories".