STEPANAKERT. – The independence of Artsakh today is definitely stronger; the foundations and guarantees of independence have been strengthened year by year. Speaker of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia, Ararat Mirzoyan, on Monday said this speaking with reporters in Stepanakert, the capital city of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic).

In his words, the freedom and independence of Artsakh has been a cherished dream of numerous Armenian generations, and that dream has come true today.

“We must make every effort to cherish what has been achieved, to be able to strengthen it, to be able to reach its logical, final destination,” he added. “We are speaking about the fundamental values, the fundamental objectives for which our people have assembled and created statehood. There can be no opposition, no authorities; there can be no disagreements here.”

He stressed that no one can drive a wedge between Armenia and Artsakh.

“It’s about something beyond time and the petty political interests of individual groups,” Mirzoyan explained.

And when asked what steps the NA of Armenia is going to take to present Artsakh’s right to self-determination at various instances, Mirzoyan responded as follows, in particular: “First, we must continue to defend, to stress at all possible platforms, the right of the Artsakh people to self-determination. After all, it’s one of the fundamental rights.

“It’s very true that Armenian diplomacy (…) will use all possible platforms so that the issue is presented in this very context, this aspect because, ultimately, no matter how close the talk about restoring historical justice is to our [Armenians’] hearts, we must realize that (…) the world speaks in the language of rights; and of course, let’s not also forget [that] it speaks in the language of protecting those rights.”