News - Karabakh legislature vice-speaker: Artsakh issue has nothing to do with Azerbaijan's territorial integrity

When we look at the history of our people, it can be said that it is a chain of victories and defeats. Sadly, the national liberation struggle of Artsakh also had such a course. Vahram Balayan, deputy speaker of the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) National Assembly (NA) in exile, on Tuesday told this to reporters outside the Artsakh representative office in Armenia. "Under the influence of many factors, we could not keep, protect what we had. In general, history is not only a lesson, but also a punishment for all those who do not take the lessons of history into account. Unfortunately, we did not take into account the lessons we learned, we could not preserve our statehood. The Artsakh ‘chapter’ of our history is not yet closed, every generation must contribute to the preservation of the country, the statehood. It is true: today we are in a disillusioned, broken state, but there is a need to use the available opportunities and strengthen Armenia. And in the context of all this, try to continue our further struggle, liberate a part of our historical homeland," said Balayan. According to the vice-speaker of the Artsakh legislature in exile, the Artsakh issue has nothing to do with the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. "We self-determined on our territory. Here it is important to note that we have had no ambitions towards the territories of any country, people. We had Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region during the Soviet period, and it had a certain status within the Soviet Union, just like Soviet Azerbaijan had. Let me say more: the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region also had a constitution, where it is written that the official, state language is Armenian. There is no problem from a legal point of view. Talking today that there should be self-determination on the territory of Azerbaijan, there is no such thing, it is unacceptable," Balayan said. The Artsakh NA in exile convened a session at the Artsakh representative office in Armenia. Today marks the 36th anniversary of the Artsakh movement.