Statement by the Civic and Political Forces on the Need of Protection of the Independence of the Republic of Armenia

30 September, 2023, Yerevan

We, free citizens of the Republic of Armenia – the representatives of civil society and the political forces – herewith declare that we are full of determination to preserve and protect our independent and sovereign statehood, as the highest value created by the Armenian people. We condemn the threats from Russia and Azerbaijan to Armenia’s independence and territorial integrity.

We will fight against any external and internal encroachment on the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Armenia. The current anti-Armenian attitude and policy adopted by the Russian authorities, of which the Armenian people in Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) became victims on those days, is not only reprehensible, but it will further deepen the gap arisen between Armenia and Russia in recent years, making it almost insurmountable. This reality creates an urgent necessity for a radical revision of the entire body of legal agreements between the Republic of Armenia and the Russian Federation.

In these difficult days, for our brothers and sisters forcibly deported from Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), we are standing by their side, ready to assist in meeting all their urgent needs and finding safe shelter in the Motherland. At the same time, we will fight for their safe return to Artsakh and the realization of their rights, for the guarantee of their dignified and prosperous life on their own land in the soonest possible time.

We condemn all the international crimes, committed by Aliyev’s hereditary corrupt dictatorship against the Armenian people in Artsakh, including genocide, depatriation, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. We assess all of this as a continuation of the aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against the Armenians of Artsakh since 1988, the forced displacement of around half a million Armenians from Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan, the destruction of Armenian cultural heritage, which has not been properly condemned, and punished by the international community. For all these crimes, Azerbaijan should bear collective responsibility, including in the form of sanctions, and its officials should bear personal criminal responsibility in accordance with the norms of international law.

We consider the forced depatriation of the Armenian people of Artsakh realized through starvation and military aggression in the same logic as Russia’s aggression and genocide committed against the people of Ukraine, which we had condemned, and which is just the continuation of the Holodomor and the forced deportations carried out in line with Stalin’s colonial policy during the first part of the last century.

We welcome the readiness of the authorities of the Republic of Armenia to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and urge them to do so without any reservations.

We emphasize once again the importance of the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through dialogue between the representatives of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and Azerbaijan and highly appreciate the efforts taken by the international community in that direction. We consider that the decree about the self-dissolution of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic published by the group that usurped the power through a coup in Artsakh (that appeared in the zone of Russia’s responsibility on November 9, 2020) cannot have any legal force or provide a basis for Aliyev’s dictatorship to legitimize its criminal acts against the Armenian people.

We express our gratitude to the international community, the European Union, its member states, the USA, and other countries for the political, moral, and material support shown to Armenia and the people of Artsakh during these difficult days.

At the same time, we call on our Western partners to use the necessary diplomatic and political tools to achieve as a first step the withdrawal of the Russian occupation forces from the territory of Artsakh and the deployment there an international fact-finding and monitoring mission, to ensure the free entry of international media and the relevant offices of the United Nations, including UNESCO and UNICEF to Artsakh, and later also to deploy there a peacekeeping mission endowed with an international mandate for creating the opportunity and conditions for the return Armenians to Artsakh, ensuring their safety and rights.

In order to achieve the strengthening of Armenia’s independence and sovereignty and its further empowerment, we call on the RA authorities to:

1. Immediately start the process of withdrawing from the CSTO, the EAEU, and the CIS structures, by dissolving all military and economic agreements with Russia, which at the moment do not complement Armenia’s security, but rather endanger that security.
2. Ban the broadcast of Russian state and state-affiliated TV channels’ programs in the Armenian multiplex and cable network, on the basis of their violation of the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Armenia.
3. Apply to the European Union by submitting an application for full EU membership. Sign bilateral strategic partnership agreements with the EU member states, the USA, Canada, India, and other democratic countries of the United West.
4. Give impetus to the deepening of bilateral and multilateral military and military-technical cooperation with Western countries and Euro-Atlantic security systems.

EaP Civil Society Forum’s Armenian National Platform

EU-Armenia Civil Society Platform

“Republic” party

“For the Republic” party

European party

Christian-Democratic party

“Voice” Libertarian-Conservative party

Armenian Institute for International and Security Affairs

“Europe of Law” association

Armenian Center for Democracy and Security Issues

“Pro Armenia” public organization

“Shogher Union” socio-educational NGO

Journalists’ club “Aparez”.

“Free Citizen” Civic Initiatives Support Center

“Free Armenia” initiative

“Children’s Association of Armenia” Charitable NGO

“Family and Community” NGO

“Civic Youth Center” NGO

“Community Consolidation and Support Center” NGO

“Territorial Development and Research Center” NGO

“Union of Senior Generation” NGO

“Refugees and International Law” civil society network, Eleonora Asatryan

“Gardmana Armenians of the World” NGO, president Abgar Gyulumyan

“New Intellectuals” Educational and Positive Influence Center, Sevak Kirakosyan

Public Agenda Protection NGO, Chairman Gnel Sargsyan

Hrachya Arzumanyan, doctor of political sciences, expert on military and national security issues

Gurgen Simonyan, political scientist, expert on the national interest and strategic policy of the state

Artur Sakunts, human rights defender

Davit Stepanyan, political analyst

Levon Barseghyan, chairman of the board of “Asparez” club of journalists

Sossi Tatikyan, foreign and security policy expert

Rafik Hakobyan, YSU professor

Lilit Dallakyan, political scientist

Sergey Sargsyan, IT specialist

Mikael Zolyan, political scientist

Hrant Vardanyan, founding director of Arev Film Studio, film director

Gagik Ghazare, film director

Oleg Dulgarian, human rights defender

Edgar Khachatryan, human rights defender

Hayk Babajanyan, IT specialist

Artur Ghazaryan, IT specialist

Elsa Margaryan

Vazrik Petrosyan

Tatev Sayadyan

Alla Grigoryan

Hovhannes Ispiryan

Astghik Tarverdyan

Mushekh Gishyan

The forum was covered live by the Public Television of Armenia, 1in․am and Civic.am online television channels, and other media outlets. You can watch the full video recording at the following link: