Based on the Declaration on the Independence of Armenia of August 23, 1990, and the Declaration of September 2, 1991, proclaiming the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, and noting the legitimacy Artsakh’s declaration of sovereignty and the subsequent process and their conformity with international and domestic legal orders,

Respecting the inalienable right of the people of Artsakh to form its own authorities,

Faithful to the aims and principles of the United Nations Charter and the Helsinki Final Act,

Highlighting the indivisibility and interdependence in international law, particularly in the UN Charter, of issues related to international peace and security and the protection of human rights,

Taking into account that the blockade of Artsakh by Azerbaijan and the circumstance of not being recognized as a subject of international law essentially restrict the full realization of human rights and freedoms in the Republic of Artsakh,

Convinced that

– the unconditional implementation of the right of equality and self-determination of peoples guarantees the resolution of the Karabakh issue and the maintenance of sustainable peace and security in the region,

– the process of the international recognition of the Republic of Artsakh is a pan-national priority,

– the unsettled state of the conflict can by no means restrict the fundamental rights and freedoms of persons inhabiting these territories,

Considering

– the necessity to strengthen the obligations undertaken by the agreement between Nagorno Karabakh, Azerbaijan and Armenia establishing a ceasefire on May 12, 1994 and the subsequent trilateral agreements establishing that the ceasefire regime has no expiration date,

– the priority of reestablishing in full the trilateral format of the negotiations established by the decision of the OSCE Budapest Summit in 1994,

– the commitment of Armenia to guarantee the security of the people of Artsakh and the realization of its right to self-determination, and the necessity of concerted actions for the maintenance of security,

– the impediment to the “Vienna-Saint Petersburg-Geneva” agenda on the monitoring of the ceasefire regime and the agreements established in the framework thereof in the aftermath of the April 2016 war operations, the actual refusal by Azerbaijan to respect internationally accepted norms of peaceful settlement, as well as its continuous threats to resume the war,

– the inevitability of the Republic of Artsakh’s full participation for securing the plenitude and effectiveness of the negotiations,

– as priority in the negotiating process the resolution of problems connected to the independent status of the Republic of Artsakh, the restoration of its territorial integrity and its security,

– the necessity to counter Azerbaijan’s policy of blockading and isolating Artsakh,

– that relations between the republics of Armenia and Artsakh on issues related to the realization of fundamental human rights, security, military cooperation, foreign policy activities and other numerous spheres to date are not fully regulated by legal agreements, as well as the necessity to raise the legal relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh to a new level until the final peaceful settlement of the conflict;

The “Armenia-Artsakh Strategic Pact” forum, in support of appropriately legally regulating this alliance,

– initiates a process of garnering pan-Armenian support,

– forms a body to organize this process, and

– calls upon the legislative and executive authorities of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh to take steps, as soon as possible, to fill the gap in the legal relations and to sign a comprehensive cooperation agreement.

Stepanakert, Republic of Artsakh
May 7, 2019

In Armenian