Armenia`s authorities were perfectly aware of developments in Artsakh  last Sept - Gagik Bagunts 

ArmInfo.The Armenian authorities were well aware of what was happening in Artsakh last September and the signing of the document on the abolition of the NKR.  This was stated by the acting speaker of the Artsakh parliament Gagik Bagunts in a conversation with journalists on September 19 at the Yerablur military pantheon.

When asked why the people of Artsakh left their homeland last  September and did not stay, Bagunts pointed to the atmosphere of  hostility emanating from Azerbaijan and the unwillingness to  negotiate.

"Azerbaijan was many times stronger than Artsakh, and it tried in  every possible way to bring to an end the aggression that it  initiated back in the fall of 2020," he noted.

At the same time, the parliamentarian added that what happened in  Artsakh is a continuation of the Armenian Genocide that took place a  hundred years ago.

"The document signed on the dissolution of Artsakh has no legal  force, and its signing was a necessary step to save 120 thousand  Artsakh residents," he said.

Bagunts drew attention to the fact that the dearmenization of Artsakh  did not occur because of this document, but because of the  aggressive, genocidal actions of Azerbaijan. "This is something that  needs to be clearly understood," he noted, adding that all state  structures of Artsakh continue to function normally and assist the  people of Artsakh.

The Artsakh parliamentarian believes that the tragedy that happened a  year ago in Artsakh did not serve as a lesson for the Armenian  people.

Exactly one year ago, on September 19, 2023, the Azerbaijani Armed  Forces, after an almost ten-month total blockade of the Republic of  Artsakh, initiated aggression against the Republic, fighting for its  right to self-determination.

Amid the inaction of the entire international community, left alone  with an enemy tens of times larger in numbers, Artsakh fell on  September 20.

As a result of the enemy aggression, hundreds of Artsakh residents  were injured, and more than 200 people were reported killed,  including civilians.

Azerbaijan began the violent subjugation of the NKR. In addition, on  September 20, late in the evening, it became known that Azerbaijan  deliberately fired at two vehicles of the Russian peacekeeping  contingent, killing 6 people, including the deputy commander of the  RMK. On September 22, the process of abolishing the Artsakh Defense  Army began. During search operations from September 21 to 24, the NKR  Ministry of Internal Affairs found the bodies of 105 Artsakh  residents, including brutally murdered children and old people.  Artsakh was completely de-Armenianized, its entire indigenous  population of over 120 thousand people was forced to flee to Armenia  under the threat of physical violence.

During the mass exodus, on September 25, an explosion occurred at a  fuel depot near Stepanakert, a tank of gasoline exploded. At the time  of the explosion, there were a large number of people at the scene  who were standing in line for gasoline to leave Artsakh amid the  latest Azerbaijani aggression. According to the Investigative  Committee of Armenia, 218 people were killed in the explosion at the  fuel depot, 215 of whom have been identified. At least 120 people  received injuries of varying severity, mainly burns. At the moment,  according to the investigation, the whereabouts of 21 people are  unknown. Since the enemy aggression that began in the fall of 2020,  which in September 2023 ended with the complete ethnic cleansing of  Artsakh, over 150 thousand Artsakh residents have become homeless.