NKR marks 17th anniversary of independence

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Nagorno Karabakh Republic marks the 17th anniversary of proclamation of independence on September 2.



In 1991, the Nagorno Karabakh Republic was proclaimed during a joint session of the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) and Shahumyan regional councils. The decision was taken in compliance with the USSR legislation on secession of a union republic. According to the law, the people of autonomous republics and oblasts maintained the right to decide whether to remain a part of the republic seceding from the USSR or not.



At the referendum on December 10, 1991, the overwhelming majority of Nagorno Karabakh's population (99,89 per cent) voted for complete independence from Azerbaijan.



Nagorno Karabakh was the first in the post soviet area to exercise its right to self-determination.



Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) was "gifted" to Azerbaijan in July 1921 by a decision of the Caucasus Bureau of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party, a body that illegally demarked the borders of independent republics in exchange for Azeri oil.