Thread by @historyarmenia

#OTD 10 Dec 1991, 30 years ago, a nationwide referendum on the political future of #Artsakh was held in the Republic of Artsakh (#NagornoKarabakh Republic), as a result of which the overwhelming majority of the voters (99.89%) voted for independence.
#Armenia #History 🧵

The referendum was held in full compliance with the then national legislation in force, democratic procedures & norms of int'l law. All necessary conditions were created for holding a referendum on the entire territory of the Republic. 82% of the citizens took part in the voting.

The preparation and holding of the referendum took place against the background of a purposefully pursued policy of Azerbaijan to escalate tensions, which became explosive and subsequently turned into a full-scale war against Artsakh and its people.

The referendum on independence in Artsakh was another attempt by the Artsakh side to prevent the impending war and to transfer the resolution of the Azerbaijan-Karabagh conflict to the legal and political plane.

However, Azerbaijan ignored the steps taken by Artsakh to resolve the conflict by peaceful and democratic means & on the election day subjected Stepanakert, the capital of the Republic, to massive artillery shelling, as a result of which dozens of civilians were killed & injured.

The people of Artsakh have repeatedly reaffirmed their determination to strengthen and develop the sovereign statehood at subsequent constitutional referenda. On December 10, 2006, the first Constitution of the country was adopted in Artsakh at a national referendum.

Unfortunately, the expressions of the will of the people of Artsakh and their democratic aspirations became a missed opportunity for the int'l community, which, if recognized, could've prevented the wars unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh & saved thousands of innocent lives.

Azerbaijan was the initiator of 3 wars unleashed with the aim of destroying Artsakh in 1991-94, 2016, 2020. In the interwar years it deliberately and consistently undermined the peacekeeping efforts of int'l mediators by taking an extremely uncompromising & destructive position.

Referendum of independence is a solid legal basis for the statehood of Artsakh, created with the aim of saving the people from complete annihilation, emanated by militant policy of Azerbaijan, where the hatred against Armenians & genocidal ideology are the basis of state-building