July 12, 1988, the Regional Soviet of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast declared its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan SSR and decision to join the Armenian SSR.
A few days later, the Supreme Soviet of Armenia supported the move, while Azerbaijan rejected it. On July 18, the USSR’s Supreme Soviet declared that neither republic had the legal authority to make such changes, rendering both declarations void. Yet for Artsakh Armenians, July 12 remains a symbol of self-determination.
This decision followed a formal request made on February 20, 1988, when the NKAO asked to be transferred from Azerbaijan to Armenia. The demand wasn’t new — it was the result of years of effort. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Armenian leadership had sought this change, but Moscow repeatedly denied it.
In response to these peaceful appeals, Azerbaijan responded with bloodshed. On February 27–29, 1988, in Sumgait, 35 km from Baku, Armenians were murdered, raped, and burned alive in organized pogroms — a brutal message in answer to a legal demand.
Today, July 12, 2025, at 18:00 in Yerevan’s Freedom Square, Artsakh Armenians and their allies will gather to demand justice, recognition, and return. Two years after the occupation and ethnic cleansing of Artsakh, they continue the fight for survival, identity, and freedom — and refuse to be erased.
