The President of the Artsakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan made a note on his Facebook page, addressing the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.
"To the President of the Russian Federation
Mr. Vladimir Putin.
Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich,
Artsakh-Russia relations have a history of centuries. Russia is perceived in the historical memory of the people of Artsakh as a brotherly country, which has always reached out to this part of the Armenians in all difficult situations.
Artsakh-Russia relations were most direct especially during the prosperous period of the Artsakh principalities, about which there is a lot of factual evidence.
For more than a century (in the 19th century and in the 10s of the 20th century) Karabakh was part of tsarist Russia. This historic period was marked by lasting peace, repatriation and economic development for Karabakh. Cultural life has also developed. It is noteworthy that in the second half of the 19th century, Shushi, the administrative center of Artsakh, became one of the most important spiritual, cultural and economic centers in the Transcaucasia.
During the same historical period, a whole constellation of Artsakh Armenians played a leading role in the military-political and public life of the Russian Empire: Valerian Madatov, Hovhannes Lazarev, Lazar Serebryakov, Mikael Loris-Melikov, Vasily Behbutov and others.
These relations continued in the Soviet period as well. During the Great Patriotic War, about 90,000 Armenians from the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region and historic Artsakh took part in the Great Patriotic War, half of whom dedicated their lives to the defense of the homeland. Artsakh was one of the leaders in the USSR in terms of the number of heroes of the Soviet Union and the Knights of the Order of Glory per capita.
The five Armenian marshals of the USSR were from Artsakh: Hovhannes Baghramyan, Ivan Isakov, Hamazasp Babajanyan, Armenak Khanperiants (Sergey Khudyakov), Sergey Aganov. More than 30 generals and thousands of officers shone with their military talent. Anastas and Artyom Mikoyan, Ivan Tevosyan, Andranik Iosifyan, Nikolay Yenikolopov, Mikael Tariverdiev, and many others were from Artsakh.
The close Artsakh-Russia relations continue to this day. A considerable part of the approximately 3 million Armenians living in Russia is from Artsakh, many of whom are in the 1980s and 1990s have been forcibly displaced from Artsakh as a result of the Azerbaijani genocidal and ethnic cleansing policy.
I would like to emphasize that at all stages of the settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict, Russia has acted in favor of the principle of non-use of force or threat of force and the principle of peaceful settlement of conflicts. Russia plays a role in the settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict both in the format of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing and also has a separate role. The Artsakh Republic highly appreciates Russia's mediation efforts, active role and decisive mission in all stages of the conflict settlement, especially in 1994. in reaching a Tripartite Ceasefire Agreement.
Russia also played a decisive role in the next stage of the escalation of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict in 2016. On April 5, 1994, an agreement was reached in Moscow with the mediation of Russia to cease hostilities and restore the ceasefire, in accordance with Ceasefire agreement.
We appreciate the active diplomatic efforts of Russia and You personally aimed at stopping the aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh and the large-scale war. I would also like to inform you that in the Republic of Artsakh and among all Armenians, the objective assessments on the situation in your speech at the Valdai Club received a great response.
You mentioned in your speech. "This conflict started not as an interstate conflict and a struggle for territories, it started as an ethnic confrontation. Unfortunately, this is a fact. Cruel crimes were committed against the Armenian people in Sumgait and then in Nagorno Karabakh. And we have to take all this into account". Unfortunately, this genocidal policy of Azerbaijan continues to this day.
Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich!
You are the individual and the head of state who has a huge reputation in the world and in our region. In view of all this, we ask Yu to make every effort to end the war in the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict zone and resume political processes.
With Deep respect,
President of the Artsakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan".
