36th anniversary of Artsakh movement marked in Armenia 

ArmInfo. On the occasion of the 36th anniversary of the Artsakh Movement, President of Artsakh Samvel Shahramanyan, Vice-Speaker of the National Assembly of Artsakh, Acting Head of the National Assembly Gagik Bagunts and other Artsakh officials visited the Yerablur Pantheon this morning and paid tribute to those who died for the defense and freedom of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

On February 20, 1988, an extraordinary session of the Council of  People's Deputies of the Nagorno- Karabakh Autonomous Region (NKAO)  adopted a decision "On a petition to the Supreme Soviets of the  Azerbaijan SSR and the Armenian SSR for the transfer of NKAO from the  Azerbaijan SSR to the Armenian SSR."

On the occasion of the 36th anniversary of the Artsakh movement,  deputy of the Armenian parliament from the opposition faction "I have  the honor" Tigran Abrahamyan, in particular, wrote:

"Today marks the 36th anniversary of the Artsakh Movement, which for  several decades has symbolized the collective will and righteous  desire of the Armenian people to control their destiny, as well as  the determination to fight for national ideas.

On February 20, 1988, an extraordinary session of the Regional  Council of Nagorno-Karabakh adopted a historic decision expressing  the will of the Artsakh people for free self-determination, and laid  the foundation for the revival of Artsakh.

This path was difficult and thorny, but the idea was so strong that  many people risked their lives to achieve their goal. This created  the opportunity for the struggle and victory of not only Artsakh, but  also Armenia, since the attacks of the Azerbaijanis that began later  were not only in the direction of Artsakh, but also in the direction  of Armenia, from Meghri, Yeraskh to Tavush."

At the same time, the deputy expressed his conviction that in these  difficult times for the Armenian people, this day should not become a  reason for despair or nightmare. According to him, on the contrary,  this day should become a statement of the fact that in the most  difficult days, Armenians are able to unite around an idea and  conduct their decisive battle, regardless of whether the enemy is  inside or outside?

"Today's struggle is also a manifestation of respect for all those  martyrs who died in these decades for the sake of tomorrow and for  the defense of Artsakh and Armenia," Abrahamyan concluded.