Statement of the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh
On the occasion of the 34th Anniversary of the Declaration of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh)
Dear Compatriots,
On September 2, 2025, we mark the 34th anniversary of the declaration of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh). This date is not only a historically significant day for the Armenian people, but also a testament—grounded in international law—to the right to self-determination and to live in peace. This decision of pan-Armenian importance rested on firm historical and legal foundations.
September 2, 1991, marked the beginning of Artsakh’s statehood. For thirty years, with a solid constitutional foundation and effectively functioning state and democratic institutions, the people of Artsakh fostered the development of the second Armenian Republic. Although the Republic of Artsakh did not have international recognition, it had an established system of governance and was a provider of peace and security in the region, which not only regional powers but also influential international centers had to take into account.
The 2020 war, followed by the genocidal actions of Azerbaijan in September 2023—the complete occupation and depopulation of Artsakh—entered the annals of humanity as a dark and disgraceful page, where the right to self-determination and to live freely was sacrificed to brute force, economic interests, and totalitarian ambitions.
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We honor and bow before all who gave their lives defending the right of the people of Artsakh to live freely. Like every individual endowed with national consciousness, we are bound to continue the struggle for the restoration of historical justice and to enlist ourselves in the national-liberation movement of the Armenian people.
Today, when the state institutions of Artsakh are in exile and its people have been deprived of their native land, the National Assembly of Artsakh, as the highest representative body vested with the primary mandate, expressing the will and position of the entire population of the Republic, deems it necessary once again to emphasize and remind the international community:
• The declaration of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) was based on the laws of the Soviet Union in force at the time; therefore, it is fully legitimate and cannot be called into question through pressures and arbitrary interpretations of authoritarian powers.
• The Armenian national, cultural, and religious heritage formed over millennia in the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) and surrounding areas is an inseparable part of world civilization. Its preservation and protection are essential responsibilities entrusted to relevant international institutions.
• The collective return of the people of Artsakh to their homeland is an inalienable and absolute right. Its denial constitutes a continuation of the genocide committed by Azerbaijan.
• The mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group also encompassed the rights of the people of Artsakh.
Therefore, the dissolution of this body without the creation of effective mechanisms and guarantees for protecting those rights is unacceptable.
Based on the above, the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh demands from the authorities of the Republic of Armenia and calls upon authorized international organizations and mediating countries to place on the agenda of Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations the release of prisoners and hostages, the return of the people of Artsakh to their ancestral homeland, and the guarantee of their right to live freely, safely, and with dignity in their historical homeland.
Genuine peace and long-term stability in the region require solutions founded on justice, balance, and mutual acceptability, not temporary circumstantial arrangements imposed by force and geopolitical bargaining.
The Artsakh question is not resolved, nor is it closed. The recognition and legitimization of genocidal actions and their consequences can never be regarded as a final outcome in international legal or moral terms, whether written or unwritten.
The people of Artsakh are the rightful masters of their homeland, their history, their spiritual and cultural heritage, their past and future, their rights, and their mission.
National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh
02.09.2025
Yerevan
Artsakh Republic National Assembly