Artsakh President wrote a letter to the President of the Russian  Federation

ArmInfo. President of the Artsakh Republic Araik Harutyunyan wrote a letter to President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin asking him to make efforts to end  hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh and resume political processes in the  zone of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict.

In his message to the Russian leader, Arayik Harutyunyan emphasized  that at all stages of the settlement of the Azerbaijan-Karabakh  conflict, Russia strictly observes the provisions of international  law and the peaceful settlement of the conflict based on the  principle of non-use of force and the threat of force.  He noted that  in the process of settling the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict, Russia  acts both as a co-chairing country of the OSCE Minsk Group and as a  country that has its own special role in maintaining peace and  stability in the region.

"The Republic of Artsakh highly appreciates the mediation efforts of  Russia, its active role and decisive contribution at all stages of  the conflict settlement and the achievement of the 1994 Trilateral  Ceasefire Agreement. Russia also played a decisive role in restoring  peace and stability during the next escalation of the  Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict in 2016. On April 5, 2016, it was with  the mediation of Russia in Moscow that an agreement was reached on  the cessation of hostilities and the restoration of the 1994  ceasefire. We highly appreciate the active efforts of Russia and your  personal contribution aimed at stopping large-scale military actions  and Azerbaijan's aggression against Artsakh, "the President of  Artsakh writes.

At the same time, he touched upon the speech of Vladimir Putin at the  meeting of the Valdai discussion club, noting that the speech and  objective assessment of the Russian president of the situation in  Artsakh caused a great resonance.

"In your speech, you stressed the following:" This conflict began not  just as an interstate conflict and a struggle for territories, it  began with ethnic confrontation. Unfortunately, it is a fact when in  Sumgait and then in Nagorno-Karabakh, cruel crimes were committed  against the Armenian people. We must take all this into account in a  complex>. Unfortunately, to this day Azerbaijan continues to pursue  this policy of genocide, "Arayik Harutyunyan noted.

Stressing that the relations between Artsakhomi and Russia have a  long history, he added that Russia is perceived in the historical  memory of the people of Artsakh as a fraternal country, which in the  most difficult situations has always extended a helping hand to this  part of the Armenian people.  Russian-Artsakh relations reached a  qualitatively new level during the heyday of the meliks  (principalities) of Artsakh, about which there is a lot of  documentary evidence. For more than a century (from the beginning of  the 19th to the end of the second decade of the 20th century),  Karabakh was part of the Russian Empire. This historical period was  marked for Karabakh by a long period of peace, creation, repatriation  of compatriots expelled from their native lands and economic  recovery. Cultural life has reached particular development. Thus,  since the second half of the 19th century, the administrative and  political center of Artsakh, the city of Shushi, has been one of the  most important cultural and economic centers of the entire  Transcaucasia.

In the same historical period, a whole galaxy of Karabakh Armenians  played an important role in the military-political and social life of  Russia. Valerian Madatov, Ivan Lazarev, Lazar Serebryakov, Mikhail  Loris-Melikov, Vasily Bebutov and others take a special place among  them.

Close bilateral ties were maintained during the Soviet period as  well. About 90 thousand Armenians from the Nagorno-Karabakh  Autonomous Region and historical Artsakh fought on different fronts  of the Great Patriotic War, half of whom fell defending their  homeland. In terms of the number of heroes of the Soviet Union and  holders of the Order of Glory per capita, Artsakh occupied one of the  first places in the USSR.  All five Marshals of the USSR of Armenian  origin - Ivan Bagramyan, Ivan Isakov, Amazasp Babajanyan, Sergey  Khudyakov (Armenak Khanferyants), Sergey Aganov - were from Artsakh.  More than thirty generals and thousands of officers showed commanding  talent and heroism in defending the Motherland.  Brothers Anastas and  Artem Mikoyan, Ivan Tevosyan, Andranik Iosifyan, Nikolay Yenikolopov,  Mikael Tariverdiyev and many other figures also had Artsakh roots,  "the Artsakh president said.

He also stressed that close relations between Artsakh and Russia  continue to this day. A significant part of the representatives of  the three million Armenian diaspora in Russia are from Artsakh, among  whom there are many forcibly deported as a result of the policy of  genocide and ethnic cleansing carried out by the Azerbaijani  authorities in the late 1980s and early 1990s.