The 35th Anniversary of the Karabakh Movement
The period of “restructuring” (“perestroika”) for Armenia was difficult and dramatic. The Armenians of Artsakh, inspired by the radical changes of “restructuring,” once again raised the Karabakh issue that had been simmering since the 1920s, which had long ceased to be a socio-economic problem and required a political solution.
The first mass rally against the Azerbaijani dictatorship was held in Stepanakert, demanding the leadership of NKAO to accept a decision on reunification with mother Armenia. The entire Armenian people supported the just demand of their compatriots in Artsakh. During the Artsakh movement, the masses of people went ahead, and the leadership followed the movement. The people elected the leaders of their movement, and the movement took on an organized character, not succumbing to provocations, and continued the just struggle for the realization of national interests.
If initially the Artsakh movement had a purely national character, was not directed against the communist regime and demanded the implementation of the right to self-determination of the Armenians of Karabakh as a step aimed at restoring historical justice, then, as dictated by the further development of events, it was gradually removed from the dimension of historical rights and claims, being presented as a political issue of the right to self-determination, which is part of democracy. Along with that, the broadest democratic issues were put on the agenda, keeping the solution of the Nagorno Karabakh issue in the first place. The Karabakh movement gradually turned from national to national-democratic. Faith in one’s own strength and determination pushed the problem of restoration of national, independent statehood to the fore.
The purpose of the exhibition is to present the history of the Karabakh movement from a distance of 35 years.
Photos and documents from the collection of the History Museum of Armenia, as well as from the archives of individual researchers were used.
PERESTROIKA (“RESTRUCTURING”) AND THE MOVEMENT
THE BEGINNING OF THE KARABAKH MOVEMENT
ՍՈՒՄԳԱՅԻԹՅԱՆ ՈՂԲԵՐԳՈՒԹՅՈՒՆԸ
ԱԶԳԱՅԻՆ ՇԱՐԺՄԱՆ ԸՆԹԱՑՔՆ ՈՒ ՎԵՐԵԼՔԸ
ՂԱՐԱԲԱՂՅԱՆ ՇԱՐԺՄԱՆ ԾԱՎԱԼՄԱՆ ԱՎԱՐՏԱԿԱՆ ՓՈՒԼԸ
