FEBRUARY 20 ․ 33 YEARS LATER

On February 20, the day of Artsakh's rebirth, a rally-march was organized in Stepanakert, as every year, which continued in the city memorial. On February 20, 1988, the NKAO Regional Council convened a special session, at which a decision was made to apply to the Azerbaijani and Armenian SSR and USSR Supreme Soviets with a request to withdraw the NKAO from Azerbaijan and annex it to Armenia. The session predetermined the liberation struggle of Artsakh and the unceasing aggression of Azerbaijan.
Uncompromising with the painful reality created after the last cruel war, with the loss of many heroic martyrs and despite the heavy snowfall, people were moving in groups from the central streets of the capital to the Renaissance Square in the morning.
The crowded march from the square led by the leadership of the republic moved to the memorial. The young people leading the march, as every year, carried in their hands the flag of the Artsakh Republic, which is 25 meters long. President Arayik Harutyunyan laid a wreath at the Stepanakert city memorial. The Primate of the Artsakh Diocese, Bishop Vrtanes Abrahamyan conducted a memorial service. The participants of the march visited the military pantheon to pay tribute to the memory of the victims of the wars in Artsakh.
The flow of people near the fresh graves of the heroes did not stop. The people of Artsakh were here to repeat once again like an oath that they have firmly chosen the path leading to freedom and sovereignty, that they will not break their will, despite the existing uncertainty and many severe trials.