Statements about the non-existence of Nagorno-Karabakh as a territorial unit are irrelevant, Nikol Pashinyan said in a statement on Friday, September 2 – the day Armenians worldwide celebrate the Independence Day of Karabakh (Artsakh).
This decision to declare independence was the Armenians' answer to the existential threat, the manifestations of which were the massacres in Sumgait, Baku, Kirovabad, he said. According to him, such a decision was made as a guarantee for the protection of the security and rights of Artsakh Armenians.
"All statements about the non-existence of Nagorno-Karabakh as a territorial unit and Nagorno-Karabakh issue being solved are irrelevant, unless the issues of security and protection of the rights of the Artsakh Armenians are irrevocably addressed, and accordingly, the issue of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, regarding which the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairmanship has a mandate approved by the international community that has never been revoked,".
"The international community is obliged to make efforts to address the humanitarian problems caused by the 44-day war and to prevent the implementation of the policy of ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh.
"The Republic of Armenia will continue to support the maintenance of normal life in Nagorno-Karabakh, security and human rights protection. Today, we express our appreciation to the Person who embodies Nagorno-Karabakh, and our task is to ensure through peaceful, civilized means, through negotiations his inalienable right to live and create peacefully."
Today, we humbly remember our brothers and sisters who were martyred for the protection of the rights of our compatriots in Nagorno-Karabakh, and our obligation to them is ensuring peaceful Nagorno-Karabakh, peaceful Armenia, peaceful South Caucasus.
