On February 20, 1988, Armenian people strove for historical justice -  Ashot Danielyan

ArmInfo.On February 20, 1988, with the launch of the Artsakh Movement, the Armenian people strove for historical justice and decided to join the Armenian SSR.  Chairman of the National Assembly of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Ashot Danielyan made this statement at the Yerablur military pantheon on the occasion of the 38th anniversary of the Artsakh Movement.

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

Danielyan, along with members of the Armenian and Artsakh  parliaments, as well as the abbot of the Dadivank monastery complex,  Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, laid flowers at the "Call of Artsakh"  memorial complex, paying tribute to the sons of the Armenian people  who gave their lives for the Motherland.

In a conversation with journalists, the Speaker of the Artsakh  Parliament recalled that they have been bearing the pain of the loss  of Artsakh for three years now. "Our duty is to remember the sons of  the Armenian people who gave their lives for Artsakh, for Armenia,  for our Motherland. We lived in Artsakh with our heads held high  until the forced displacement of the entire population in 2023,  because this movement was right and just," Danielyan noted.

He recalled that the Artsakh people's aspirations to join the  Armenian SSR were fully consistent with Soviet law; however, despite  this, the Armenian people witnessed pogroms in Baku and Sumgait,  attacks against the people, and massacres. "It was a struggle for our  identity, which began our victories. The fight for our rights  continues-it's not the decision of one person, the current Armenian  government-to tell the people of Artsakh that the fight for their  rights is over. We see that there are people in Armenia who cannot  accept this thought-the loss of Artsakh-which means we are not alone  in this matter. And when Armenia has national authority, all these  questions and concerns will disappear," the speaker of the Artsakh  parliament concluded.

As a reminder, on September 19, 2023, Azerbaijan, under the pretext  of an "anti-terrorist operation," initiated a large-scale aggression  against Artsakh, which led to the complete de-Armenization of the  NKR.  This was preceded by a nearly 10-month blockade of the  republic. Since the enemy aggression that began in the fall of 2020,  which in September 2023 culminated in the complete ethnic cleansing  of Artsakh, over 150,000 Artsakh residents have lost their homeland  and become refugees.