Baku`s criminal policy aimed at destruction of people of Artsakh has  not changed even decades later - Artsakh foreign office 

ArmInfo. Below is the statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh on the 35th Anniversary of the National Liberation Struggle of Artsakh  Armenians - Karabakh Movement. 

"The Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic) today marks the  35th anniversary of the current stage of the national liberation  struggle of Artsakh Armenians - Karabakh movement, a struggle that  embodied the collective aspiration of the people to restore  historical justice, preserve national identity and dignity, and fully  realize their inalienable right to live freely and develop in their  homeland. In response to the decades-long discriminatory policies of  Azerbaijan, the people of Artsakh gathered all their will and rallied  for the idea of the revival of Artsakh and reunification with  Armenia.

"35 years ago, on 20 February 1988, an extraordinary session of the  Council of People's Deputies of the NKAO was held, which decided to  petition the Supreme Soviets of the Azerbaijan SSR and the Armenian  SSR to transfer the autonomous region from Azerbaijan to Armenia. The  issue of the transfer of Nagorno- Karabakh to Armenia was raised in a  democratic, parliamentary way, on the basis of the people's will, in  strict accordance with the Soviet legislation in force at that time  and the generally recognized norms of international law.

"The decision of the session, which confirmed the right of the people  of Artsakh to decide their own destiny, marked the current stage of  the Karabakh Movement and predetermined the prospects for the  socio-political development of Nagorno-Karabakh. It, in fact, became  the forerunner of the Declaration of Independence the  Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, adopted on 2 September 1991, under the new  historical and political realities created by the collapse of the  Soviet Union, and marked the beginning of the path to the state  independence of Artsakh.

"This act of a nationwide expression of will by the people of Artsakh  was rightly regarded as a reliable guarantee against the policy of  discrimination of the ethnic Armenian population pursued by  Azerbaijan for decades, which ultimately should have led to its  complete destruction. Subsequent events confirmed the legitimacy and  rightness of the historical choice of the people of Artsakh. Just a  week after the session of the regional Council, the Azerbaijani  authorities organized brutal pogroms and murders of Armenians in  Sumgait and other cities of Azerbaijan, and with the collapse of the  Soviet Union, they unleashed a full- scale war against Artsakh. The  criminal policy of official Baku, aimed at the destruction of the  people of Artsakh, has not changed even decades later. This is  evidenced by the military aggressions of 2016 and 2020, the ongoing  state terrorism against the people of Artsakh, as well as the  transport and energy blockade of the Republic that has been going on  for the third month already.

"Despite the incredible difficulties and trials, the people of  Artsakh continue the struggle for their free and independent  existence in the historical homeland, thereby realizing the right of  peoples to self- determination, enshrined in international law,  including the UN Charter. The past 35 years have clearly demonstrated  that the most important prerequisite for solving national problems is  national unity, the consolidation of the moral and spiritual forces  of Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora, which makes it possible to  confront the most serious challenges of the time.

"Through many years of struggle for national dignity and the right to  freely decide their own fate in their historical homeland, as well as  the creation of a democratic and viable state, the people of Artsakh  proved that they deserve recognition of their independence by the  international community.