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The Armenian people are experiencing the most dramatic period in their modern history, opposition activist Avetik Chalabyan said on Friday.

“After 35 years of struggle, more than 15,000 combat losses and recognition of Artsakh's right to self-determination in 2017, we are now facing a terrible retreat," Chalabyan, a member of the Consolidation Movement, told a forum marking the 35th anniversary of the Karabakh movement in Yerevan on Friday.

He claims that the incumbent Armenian authorities, who, too, were invited to the event but failed to show up, are now ready to "renounce" Artsakh's right to self-determination.

"The statements made in Prague and Sochi testify to it. They are in fact ready to downgrade Artsakh's status to an issue of the national minorities’ rights in Azerbaijan and talk freely about it," Chalabyan charged.

The activist rejected the claims of the Armenian leadership that “there is no alternative to it, because the struggle for Artsakh’s international recognition endangers Armenia and may lead to a loss of its territories and sovereignty given Azerbaijan’s military superiority.”

"The short-term unfavorable situation cannot be a reason for us to give up and fearfully turn this page of our history,” Chalabyan said.

“We simply have to find new strength, ideas and solutions to continue the struggle for Artsakh,” he stressed.