People of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) have proved with their endurance and determination over and over again, President Arayik Harutyunyan said on Monday, February 20.

February 20, 1988, marks the beginning of the national liberation movement, after the Karabakh Council of People's Deputies, with a vote of 110 to 17, passed a resolution in favor of reuniting with Armenia. The move was in full accordance with the USSR Constitution, specifically the article on the right of secession.

“February 20 of 1988 entered the history of the Armenian people as a turning point and a decisive day becoming a symbol of the revival of our national spirit, the unity and consolidation of all Armenians. It was marked as the Artsakh Revival Day,” Harutyunyan said in a statement.

“On that very day, the extraordinary session of the Regional Council of the NKAO, held in Stepanakert, adopted a historic decision that gave a legal effect to the decades-long struggle of Artsakh Armenians for the protection of their rights, freedoms and national dignity. We declared our resolute and unshakable will to live freely and independently on our native soil, to master our destiny on our own.

“Even after 35 years, our decision remains unchanged, our spirit unbroken, our path unwavering. The people of Artsakh who have been under blockade for more than two months now, have proved with their endurance and determination once again that they are the masters of the decision they have made, the master of the path they have chosen and the land of their ancestors, which has always been and should be Armenian.

“We are deeply grateful to all those who are with us on this difficult path, to all our compatriots in Mother Armenia and the Diaspora, to the true friends of Artsakh in different parts of the world, who, with the support they render, give us inexhaustible strength in our struggle for the protection of universal values, fundamental norms and principles of democracy.”