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The Artsakh National Assembly on Thursday issued a statement demanding that the Armenian authorities abandon their “current disastrous stance’” on the status of Artsakh. The full statement is provided below.

"The current legal and political status of the Republic of Artsakh has been formed by the will of the people as a result of three referendums and the adoption of a constitution based on their results and through a nationwide agreement established in the previous years.

The Armenians of Artsakh are well aware of the price of peace. The statehood of Artsakh, the right to live freely and independently in the historical homeland are absolute values from which even the threat of war cannot keep us.

According to the Armenia-Azerbaijan "peace" agenda, any negotiation process to annex Artsakh to Azerbaijan as well as the signing of the resulting document undermines not only the statehood of Artsakh, but also the inalienable right of the Armenians of Artsakh to live in their historical homeland.

We demand that the authorities of the Republic of Armenia renounce their current disastrous position and be guided exclusively by these values. No government has a right to lower the negotiating bar for a status acceptable to Artsakh and the internationally recognized right to self-determination under the pretext of "peace".

On behalf of the Armenians of Artsakh, we apply to:

• Armenians all over the world to stand united and resolutely by the brothers and sisters of Armenia and Artsakh in this just struggle.

• our colleagues in the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia to not deviate from the decision of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Armenia of July 8, 1992.

• the leadership of the Russian Federation. During the peacekeeping mission, it is very important for us that you do not allow anyone to manipulate the problems that arise, as a basis for questioning the further security of the people of Artsakh.

• the leaders of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries. Make efforts to maintain the only international mandate for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict regardless of all other disagreements."