Former President of the Nagorno-Karabakh parliament Ashot Ghulyan has said that the decision of the people of Karabakh to declare independence from the Soviet Union was to protect Armenia from international sanctions.

“On December 10, perhaps first in the territory of the Soviet Union, we decided that we can present our right to independence to the world only through a popular referendum,” Ghulyan told a press conference in Yerevan on Sunday, December 10, News.am reports.

"We showed that this is the collective will of the entire Artsakh, former Nagorno Karabakh people, it is their dream. At that time, by declaring an independent state, we tried to protect Armenia from international sanctions and all dangers. And when talking about danger, they should remember that Artsakh has never created dangers for Armenia," he said.

The former chairman of the Artsakh National Assembly noted that the Artsakh identity and state institutions are interrelated, and both should be kept in parallel.

According to him, it is very important to preserve the state institutions in order to preserve the identity.

On September 19, Azerbaijan launched a military offensive against Nagorno-Karabakh, which left hundreds of Armenians killed and thousands of others displaced. On September 20, the authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh agreed to a ceasefire on Azerbaijan’s terms, including the dissolution of the Defense Army. On September 28, President of the Republic of Artsakh Samvel Shahramanyan signed a decree, according to which the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) will cease to exist by January 1, 2024. Over 100,000 displaced residents have already fled Nagorno-Karabakh and reached Armenia.