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Karabakh Liberation Movement: How It Happened

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  • Karabakh Liberation Movement: How It Happened

    KARABAKH LIBERATION MOVEMENT: HOW IT HAPPENED

    Throughout 26 years, none of the people of Karabakh ever allowed the
    thought of returning under Azeri jurisdiction.

    February 12, 1988 signaled the start of the Nagorno Karabakh national
    liberation movement, with Hadrut becoming a stage for a protest
    rally, the first among many to follow. Participants of the rally,
    organized by the future chair of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
    Supreme Council Artur Lazarian, members of underground committee
    Krunk Igor Muradyan, Grigory Hayrapetyan, among others, demanded
    Karabakh's reunification with Armenia.

    February 12, 2014

    PanARMENIAN.Net - Earlier, in August 1987, Karabakh Armenians sent
    a petition for reunification with Armenia complete with tens of
    thousands of signatures to Moscow.

    On February 20, 1988 the Karabakh Council of People's Deputies, with
    the votes 110 to 17, passed a resolution requesting Azerbaijan for
    secession and Armenia for annexation. The action was in full accordance
    with the USSR Constitution, specifically the article on the right of
    secession. The decision brought out tens of thousands of demonstrators,
    both in Stepanakert and in Yerevan, yet eventually Moscow decided to
    reject Karabakh's demands for reunification with Armenia.

    Every act of democratic expression of the people's will was followed
    by economic blockades, demographic expansion and violation of the
    rights of Armenian population. Mass murders and pogroms in Azerbaijani
    cities of Sumgait, Baku, Kirovabad ensued, to be later spread across
    the country. Hundreds were left dead and injured, with 450 thousand
    of Armenians abandoning their homes.

    On December 10, 1991 an independence referendum was held in Nagorno
    Karabakh to be approved by 99.89% of voters. The NKR Supreme Council
    (the parliament) that was formed on December 28, 1991 adopted a
    Declaration of Independence confirming the results of the referendum
    and succession of legal documents implementing the right of the people
    of Nagorno Karabakh on self-determination of its political status.

    The newly-formed government of Karabakh stated its work in the
    circumstances of absolute blockade and the ensuing war, unleashed by
    Azerbaijan. The war which lasted from the fall of 1991 to the spring
    of 1994, continued with varied success on Armenian side. There were
    periods when almost 60% of the NKR territory became occupied by Azeris,
    with the capital city of Stepanakert and other settlements permanently
    subjected to mass air raids and shelling.

    On May 9, 1992, NKR defense forces liberated Shushi, opening a corridor
    in the region of Lachin, connecting the territories of Karabakh and
    Armenia to partially eliminate the blockade of NKR.

    In June-July 1992, Azeri army's offensive resulted in the occupation
    of the regions of Shahumyan, Mardakert, and partially those of Martuni,
    Askeran and Hadrut.

    In August, 1992, the U.S. Congress adopted a resolution condemning the
    actions of Azerbaijan, prohibiting government to government economic
    assistance to Baku.

    In order to resist Azerbaijani aggression, life in the NKR completely
    focused on the military effort. The NKR State Defense Committee
    was formed on August 14, 1992. Separate defense detachments were
    reconfigured forming the Nagorno Karabakh defense army, based on
    principles of discipline and central command.

    The NKR defense army succeeded in liberating the previously captured
    territories from Azerbaijan and, during military engagements, occupied
    a few Azeri-adjacent regions that had been used as firing lines
    against the Armenians. The creation of the security zone precluded
    the immediate threat facing the peaceful population of the NKR.

    Through mediation of Russia, Kyrgyzstan, and the CIS Interparliamentary
    Council Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia signed the
    Bishkek Document in the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, on May 5,
    1994. According to that document, parties to the conflict agreed to
    a cease-fire, effective from May 12th to date.

    In 1992, the OSCE Minsk Group was formed to resolve the Karabakh
    conflict, with the settlement talks launched under its auspices.

    Throughout 26 years, none of the people of Karabakh ever allowed the
    thought of returning under Azeri jurisdiction: none of them will agree
    to stand back from something won at the cost of all the bloodshed
    and losses suffered.

    Karine Ter-Sahakian / PanARMENIAN.Net

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