President of the Republic of Artsakh Araik Harutyunyan has sent a message on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the referendum on the independence of Artsakh․ “Dear compatriots. Exactly 30 years ago, in 1991, on December 10, in the conditions of military operations and shelling of peaceful settlements, our people organized a referendum on independence at a high level and indicated the way by which we should achieve our goals.

In 2006, we confirmed our commitment to the values and ideas that link the foundations of our independent statehood with the adopted Constitution of the Republic of Artsakh. And no matter how difficult this thirty-year march was, however, we managed to create and strengthen our statehood through national efforts in a certain way, continuing the value course of the Artsakh movement.

Thus, the Nagorno Karabakh Self-governing Republic is already part of the independent Republic of Armenia, separated from Western Armenia in 1920, and declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991  December 10, but did not get recognition from other states for the legalization of the Soviet Republic of Armenia.