According to political analyst Alexander Iskandaryan, the initiative is linked to changes in the political situation in the region
The website of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic parliament has posted a draft of legislative amendments to recognize Russian as the official language of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
“When Nagorno-Karabakh was part of the Azerbaijan SSR, there was a clear lack of Armenian schools there. Therefore a large part of the population received education in Russian, which was actively used in the public sphere. Moreover, Russian is unified and understood by all, while Armenian is fragmented into many dialects, varying from one territory to another. Therefore, a situation has formed in which many people in Artsakh have a good command of Russian as their second native language, while continuing to communicate in their dialect in everyday life”, – Armenian political analyst Aleksandr Iskandaryan commented on the initiative.
However, according to the political scientist, the prevalence of Russian language in NKR is not the main reason for plans to recognize Russian as an official language.
“First of all, it is connected with changes in the political situation in the region. There are Russian peacekeeping forces on the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. If before Karabakh’s security was ensured by the Karabakh army itself and by Armenia, now it is ensured to a great extent by Russia. This, of course, plays its role”, – Iskandaryan emphasized, “- Moreover, in Karabakh the attitude towards Russia has always been very benign. Its culture and language have never become an object of politicization, as it happens in Georgia or Ukraine, which means that NKR can count on further close cooperation with Russia”.