Outpost of Defense Army of Republic of Artsakh

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From the very beginning of the modern stage of the national liberation movement of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan relied on a forceful solution to the problem, abandoning political dialogue. Since 1989, Azerbaijan has imposed a blockade against Nagorno-Karabakh and unleashed terror against its population: attacks on villages, arrests of men, rustling of livestock and destruction of crops. Initially, they were carried out by combat units of the opposition Popular Front of Azerbaijan (APF), which began to be created in August 1989. To arm them, attacks were made on units of the Soviet army located in Azerbaijan and weapons were seized. Since 1990, the Azerbaijani riot police joined the PFA militants, who were armed not only with small arms, but also with armored vehicles. In an effort to finally solve the Nagorno-Karabakh problem by force, the Azerbaijani authorities in April-August 1991, with the support of internal troops and forces of the USSR Ministry of Defense, carried out a large-scale military-police operation “Ring” to deport the Armenian population of Northern Artsakh and border villages of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Okrug, which became a prelude to the subsequent full-scale aggression of Azerbaijan against the NKR. After all this, remembering the genocidal manifestations of the Azerbaijanis towards the Karabakh Armenians (Kaybalikend massacre - 1919, Shusha massacre - 1920, massacre in Maraga), and realizing the impossibility of being part of the Azerbaijani state, the people of Artsakh, determined to defend their constitutional right to independence on September 2, 1991, realized it by declaring independence, confirming it by holding a referendum on December 10, 1991. After 32 years, the Republic of Artsakh has proven its capacity by becoming a full-fledged democratic state with all its inherent institutions, which so far only lacks world recognition.