On the occasion of the 34th anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic of Artsakh, the Artsakh National Assembly held an extraordinary session. The adopted declaration was made public on September 2 during the “Return” unity rally in Yerevan’s Freedom Square. The statement was read by Artsakh MP Metakse Hakobyan, Sputnik Armenia reports.
“The National Assembly of Artsakh demands from the Armenian authorities and appeals to competent international organizations and mediating countries to make the release of prisoners of war and hostages, the return of Artsakh Armenians to their ancestral homeland, and the assurance of their right to live freely, safely, and with dignity in their historical homeland a priority issue in Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations,” the statement reads.
The initiative highlighted the process of Artsakh’s quest for independence, the depopulation documented over the years, and referred to the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group.
“The rights of the people of Artsakh were included in the OSCE Minsk Group’s mandate, therefore, dissolving the group without creating effective mechanisms and guarantees for protecting those rights is unacceptable,” Hakobyan quoted the declaration.
The declaration is open to the public and can be joined and signed by anyone interested.
The unity rally concluded with a musical performance by Honored Artist of Armenia Nersik Ispiryan.
On September 19, 2023, Azerbaijan launched a large-scale military operation against Artsakh. Confirmed figures show the death toll exceeded 220.
According to Armenia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, 115,365 people were forcibly displaced from Artsakh since September 2023.
