"32 years ago, on September 2, 1991, a joint session of the Councils of People's Deputies of the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast and the Shahumyan region proclaimed the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh.

 

Beginning from the day of illegal subjugation of Nagorno Karabakh to Azerbaijan on 5 July, 2021 and throughout its stay within the Azerbaijan SSR, the policy of apartheid and discrimination intensified in Nagorno Karabakh, an atmosphere of hatred and intolerance was created towards the indigenous Armenian people, resulting in armed clashes, human losses and mass deportation of the civilian population of Armenian villages.

 

To prevent the disastrous course of events, the people of Nagorno Karabakh exercised its right enshrined in the USSR Constitution and laws in force, specifically, the provision of the Law of the USSR Supreme Soviet "On the secession of the Union Republics from the USSR" dated April 3, 1990, according to which "the peoples of the autonomous republics and autonomous formations retain the right to independently resolve the issue of staying in the USSR or in the seceding union republic, as well as to raise the issue of their state-legal status".

 

The independence of Nagorno Karabakh was reaffirmed by the results of the nationwide referendum held on December 10, 1991 and the Declaration of Independence adopted on January 6, 1992 at the first session of the NKR Supreme Council.

 

Thirty years later, Azerbaijan occupied a significant part of the territory of the Republic of Artsakh as a result of a large-scale war it had unleashed. Aiming to achieve the final de-Armenization of Artsakh, ignoring the provisions of the Trilateral Statement of November 9, 2020, the legally binding decisions of the International Court of Justice and the ECHR, as well as numerous calls by the international community, Azerbaijan has been keeping the 120-thousand population of Artsakh under total siege for about 9 months since December 2022, depriving it of all fundamental rights and freedoms, creating unbearable living conditions and subjecting it to starvation.

 

Considering the above-mentioned facts, as well as the constant threats against the people of Artsakh and calls for their reprisals by the authorities of Azerbaijan, the international recognition of the Republic of Artsakh can become one of the basic and important guarantees of preventing the genocidal policy against the people of Artsakh.

 

Expressing our gratitude to all the Armenian sons, who fought for the right to self-determination and freedom of the people of Artsakh, and bowing to the memory of our heroes martyred in the three Artsakh wars, we reiterate that Artsakh was and remains the core of the Pan-Armenian unity, continuing the path it has chosen and fighting for our dignity.

 

We call upon all the international actors involved in the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict settlement process to take immediate and efficient steps to prevent the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh and deportation of its indigenous people from the homeland," the statement reads.