YEREVAN. – The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR; Artsakh) twice expressed in favor of independence. First, in the independence referendum 23 years ago, and second, in the 2006 referendum for the adoption of the Constitution.

NKR Presidential Press Secretary Davit Babayan stated the aforesaid commenting, at Armenian News-NEWS.am’s request, on the establishment of the Karabakh state ever since the referendum.

“The decision on independence was irreversible and final” Babayan stressed.

He noted that even though the NKR’s development as a state was specific, Karabakh has remained a piece of the independent Armenian state.

The Artsakh presidential spokesperson recalled that Karabakh had preserved its autonomy even after the decision to annex it to Azerbaijan.

Over the course of the next seventy years, Azerbaijan attempted to take that statehood away from Karabakh, but it failed, Davit Babayan said.

Subsequently, Azerbaijan took advantage of the collapse of the USSR and abolished the autonomy of Karabakh.

“The people of Karabakh, however, decided to develop the statehood. So began the new phase, the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh.

“In response, Azerbaijan began an aggression. [But] Azerbaijan lost the war. As a result, the regional situation changed, the boundaries were changed,” Davit Babayan said.

He added that the emergence of the second Armenian state was also significant for the entire Armenian nation.

“The people of Nagorno-Karabakh stand ready to build and develop, [and] also to defend if necessary, their state,” the Artsakh Presidential Press Secretary stressed.