ROBERT KOCHARIAN: "KARABAKH MOVEMENT WAS EXPRESSION OF LEGAL DEMAND"

Noyan Tapan
Feb 20, 2008

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 20, NOYAN TAPAN. On the occasion of the 20th
anniversary of the Karabakh movement Robert Kocharian, the President
of the Republic of Armenia, addressed a message to the people of the
Republic of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh on February 20. The message
runs as follows:

"Dear compatriots,

Today is a memorable day: the 20th anniversary of the Karabakh
movement.

That movement is the newest stage of the struggle for the
self-determination of the people of Artsakh, which made our national
awakening significant.

The Karabakh movement was an expression of a peaceful and legal
demand. It was reversed by massacres, evictions and large-scale
military activities.

Under the conditions imposed on us it turned into a national-liberation
war of self-defence.

The Artsakh war for liberation gave numerous heros and demanded
irretrievable victims. However, it also tempered the will of our
people and deepened the conviction of the absence of the alternative
for independence.

The independence of the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh is no longer
only a means for preserving the national identity, but also the only
real guarantee for peacefully developing in one’s own land.

Any other status differing from independence is strage for the
generation of the contemporaries of the movement. The Republic
of Nagorno Karabakh has recorded serious achievements in state
construction. They are the strong-groundedness of state structures,
the strengthening of democracy, as well as the growth and productivity
of economy.

Once again congratulating on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of
the Karabakh movement, I express my sincere gratitude to all those,
who have done and are doing everything for the progress of Artsakh. I
wish peace, prosperity and new achievements in the state construction
of the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh."