Armenia’s second President, first President of Artsakh Robert Kocharyan extended congratulations on the Artsakh Revival Day and the anniversary of the Karabakh Liberation Movement marked on February 20.

On the occasion, the ex-president’s office presented a part of Kocharyan's message of 20 February 2019, adding, “Unfortunately, Robert Kocharyan's predictions came true.”

"Unfortunately, I appeal to you not only to congratulate you and once again stress the importance of this day. People who came to power as a result of complicated internal and geopolitical upheavals continue to deliver major blows to the foundations of the statehood of Armenia and Artsakh. They are taking deliberate steps to undermine the national unity, drive a wedge between different strata of the Armenian society, discredit our history and heroes and weaken the spirit of our victorious army. It doesn’t matter whether all this is done at the instigation of an outsider, based on ideological views of spiritual fathers, or simply to overcome their own complexes. All the same, in any case it leads us to the devaluation of the Karabakh victories, particularly inevitable losses, which will be destructive for our statehood.

“Today we just have to wake up. The challenges facing our two countries are growing day by day. We need a vision of the country's development and strong unity to confront them. The hatred propaganda, the de facto revision of national values, the destruction of the state instructions, as well as the unilateral "peace-loving" foreign policy are destructive for us. Maybe, we will not have the opportunity to overcome the worst consequences of turning the country into a testing ground by a few dilettantes,” the message read.