Your trusted source

Artsakh’s State Minister Ruben Vardanyan issued a message on Artsakh Revival Day and the 35th anniversary of the Karabakh movement marked on February 20, stressing “if not for the Karabakh movement, we would have lost not only Artsakh, but also Armenia.”

“The preservation of Artsakh and the feeling of victory in the first Artsakh war gave us great strength and confidence, because we successfully forged this victory which seemed impossible to many. Thanks to the movement, we realized that we could prevent the disaster of losing our homeland through struggle,” Vardanyan said

“The people of Artsakh continue to fight for the right to live a free, independent and dignified life, to avoid the threat of ethnic cleansing and exodus from the homeland looming over our heads. In response, wars, casualties and ordeals were imposed on us by neighboring Azerbaijan, which continue in the form of the current blockade and hardships.

“Despite all the ordeals, our will to keep Artsakh Armenian remains unshakable. All those who discuss and try to decide Artsakh’s fate without us do not understand that we took our fate into our own hands on this day 35 years ago. We paid a very high price for that decision.

“Even if it takes another 35 years to reach our goal, it should not stop us, disappoint us, or drive us away from our goal. We have enough will and persistence to achieve our goal and no one can take that away from us,” reads the message.