01:50, 14 February 2018

More than 15,000 people take part in a march in Stepanakert

Participant of a march on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Karabakh liberation movement, Nagorno-Karabakh, February 13, 2018. Photo by Alvard Grigoryan for the Caucasian Knot.

In Stepanakert, activists organize a march and a rally on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Karabakh liberation movement.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Nagorno-Karabakh celebrates the 30th anniversary of the beginning of the national liberation movement. The first events took place in the cities of Martuni and Gadrut on February 12.

At 11:00 a.m. on February 13, 1988, in Lenin Square in Stepanakert, a rally of the city workers was held in front of the building of the regional committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, at which the people voiced a demand to reunify the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region with Armenia.

At 10:00 a.m. local time in Stepanakert, the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) State University held a ceremony of laying flowers to monument to students killed during the Karabakh movement. After that, a rally was held in front of the main building of the university, and activists of the Karabakh movement delivered their speeches there, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

After the rally, the people marched along the central street of Stepanakert to Renaissance Square. At 11:00 a.m. local time, a rally was started in Renaissance Square, and it was attended by participants of the Karabakh movement in 1988 and the authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh.

No exact number of the participants has been reported, but it clearly exceeds 15,000 people, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed by the police of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) was proclaimed on September 2, 1991, and on January 6, 1992, following the referendum on the NKR's status, when 99.89% of the electorate voted for the NKR's independence, declared itself an independent state. Azerbaijan does not recognize the NKR's independence, considering it as a part of its territory. The NKR's international status has not been settled.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.

Author: Alvard Grigoryan

Source: CK correspondent