Message of the third President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan on the occasion of the Independence Day of the Republic of Artsakh:
“Dear compatriots!
For several decades, until the seizure of power in 2018, we all together in Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora celebrated this day with great solemnity, joy and dignity. The Independence Day of the Republic of Artsakh was the day of liberation of a part of our homeland, unjustly annexed by Armenophobic Azerbaijan, for which our heroic brothers and sisters gave their lives, thousands of Armenians sacrificed the best years of their lives.
However, today we celebrate the once celebrated holiday in the context of the complete indifference of the current leadership of the Republic of Armenia to the problems of ethnically cleansed, deported by Armenians, occupied Artsakh and the forcibly deported Artsakh people as a result of the genocidal policy of Azerbaijan. As a result of the illegal, fabricated charges, the military-political leadership of Artsakh and other Armenians taken hostage and captives suffer inhumane hardships in Baku prisons.
I believe that just as my generation managed to liberate our native land decades after the annexation, restore justice, national dignity and impose peace on Armenophobic Azerbaijan, rather than asking for peace on unworthy terms, so we will emerge victorious from this tragedy.
So let our pain become determination, let our losses become an impetus for struggle, and let September 2 remain not a memory of the past, but an unshakable faith in the future, crowned with victory.
Yes, the Republic of Artsakh has not been recognized at the international level, but the Artsakh issue has been recognized as a problem at the international level, and international mechanisms have been created for its fair and lasting settlement.
Opportunities and grounds for international pressure on the Azerbaijani authorities exist today, but the current leadership of Armenia deliberately does not use this toolkit.
We cannot silently agree with the defeatist, catastrophic and unprofitable policy of the capitulating authorities, deceptively presented as peace, is not supported by any guarantees, and the enemy puts forward its demands to the capitulating authorities every day.
For a greedy power-hungry person clinging to the fear of losing power, Artsakh is not a homeland, but a heavy burden, an Artsakh resident is not a compatriot, but a temporary refuge, the restoration of historical justice is not a goal, but an obstacle.
Surely, no occupier or dictator, no temporary defeat can shake our will to live freely, independently, peacefully and happily, like other nations, on the land given to us by God. Artsakh is a sacred part of the Armenian Homeland, and the return of the Armenians of Artsakh is their inalienable and fundamental right.
Glory,
Eternal glory to those who fell for the freedom of the Homeland.
Strength and power to the worthy Armenians of our time.
May God protect our Homeland.