February 20 is celebrated as Artsakh Revival Day. On tis day in 1988, the Council of People’s Deputies of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region passed a decision on unification with Armenia.
This historic decision marked the beginning of a new stage of the national-liberation struggle of the Armenians of Artsakh – the Karabakh Movement. It was a truly democratic movement, a struggle for civil rights, national identity, economic equality and dignified life.
From the very beginning, the Karabakh Movement was peaceful and embodied the aspiration of the people of Artsakh to exercise its inalienable right to self-determination by using the legal mechanisms in place.
The response of Baku to the legitimate demand of the Armenians of Artsakh was its refusal of political dialogue and bloody crimes against the Armenian population of the Azerbaijani SSR.
In an attempt to intimidate the people of Artsakh by force, the Azerbaijani authorities launched ethnic cleansing in Sumgait, Baku, and other Armenian-populated cities of Azerbaijan, as well as in the settlements of Northern Artsakh, which subsequently grew into large-scale military aggression against the civilian population of Artsakh.