Artsakh celebrate the Revival Day today. On February 20, 1988 the Regional Council of the Autonomous Republic of Nagorno Karabakh took the historic decision to join Armenia.
Everything had started much earlier. From December 13 people were holding rallies at Lenin Square in Stepanakert, demanding to secede from Azerbaijan and rejoin with Armenia.
The Regional Council of Peoples’ Deputies held an special session on February 20, during which it took the decision to “submit petitions to the Supreme Councils of the Azerbaijani SSR and Armenian SSR on the secession of the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast from Soviet Azerbaijan and its transfer to Soviet Armenia.”
The Azerbaijani authorities and the pro-Azerbaijani officials of the Autonomous Region of Nagorno Karabakh failed to prevent the conduct of the special session. Although the authorities had closed the roads to Stepanakert, the Deputies managed to get to the capital on foot or on horses.
“All regional, community and city councils were holding sittings before February 1988, and it was a unique referendum," then Deputy of the Regional Council Karen Baburyan said in an interview with “Armedia” analytical center. “The Azerbaijani authorities, supported by First Secertary of the Regional Council Boris Kevorkov, were trying to disturb the sittings of regional and city councils. However, we were resolute in our decision,” he said.
On February 20 the First Secretary of the Communist party of Azerbaijan Kyaram Baghirov was in Stepanakert with his subordinates and representatives of power structures.
The sitting of the Regional Council started at 9 p.m. At the beginning of the sitting Baghirov was giving promises, then he started threatening, thus trying to disturb the session. Representative of the Central Committee of the USSR Communist Party Yashin, who was also present at the sitting, was calling Moscow from time to time to report about the developments. The Deputies forced Baghirov to leave the hall.
Chairman of the Regional Council Vladimir Osipov was against the movement and the decision; he was not present at the sitting. Moreover, he had left taking the seal, which could cause serious problems.
However, the Deputies found the way out of the situation. The decision of the Regional Council was signed by all its members, and this gave the decision a legal status, so that neither Moscow, nor Baku could call it illegal.
On February 20, 1988, the Regional Council of the Autonomous Region of Nagorno Karabakh and the Council of Shahumyan region took the decision to secede from Azerbaijan and join Armenia.
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