27 years ago, on October 1, 1997, then-Defense Minister Vazgen Sargsyan sent a letter to President Levon Ter-Petrosyan. This was after Ter-Petrosyan's famous press conference on September 26, when the president spoke about compromises on the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Radar Armenia presents Vazgen Sargsyan's letter in full.

"First of all, I am against the political or ideological interpretation of the situation.

- With the slogan "For the sake of the people," we want to take away from the same people the greatest, perhaps the only, achievement of the ten-year, even thousand-year, difficult struggle - the war victories.

- By indirectly explaining all our shortcomings on the social, economic, and political grounds with the war, in the collective perception of the people with the "unresolved Karabakh issue," we are instilling enmity in the poor part of the people, in other words, in the majority, a large part of it, towards the war and the struggle in general. And mass hatred of war is fraught with the danger of universal destruction. With the destruction of the army.

- From the first day, we struggled to make the impossible possible, a struggle of faith, enthusiasm, and non-standard solutions.

Otherwise, I think the communist leaders of 1988 were correct with their "realistic" and passionate policy.

Otherwise, why were there so many victims and sacrifices?

Were the Bagrats right with their famous philosophy?

"Levon Hakobich, Vazgen Mihailich, mind, brain, the way is right, if only Karabakh weren't there, there weren't a few insolent deputies"...

This would remain a joke if it did not have the tragic prospect of becoming a political thought today. It is a big misunderstanding to call this war "Karabakh."

This is the All-Armenian War—the last one.

Undoubtedly the most successful in our history.

When was the last time we didn't wage our life-and-death war on the doorsteps of our capitals...

Today, the soldier standing on top of Omar is protecting Yerevan. Unfortunately, our motherland is so tiny that one regular defeat is Stepanakert, Zangezur, and Sevan. And under these conditions, to hate the war we won?

No nation has ever loved war (with some exceptions), but every healthy, livable nation must respect war.

Finally, let's weigh with the most sober calculation what this inexhaustible war has given and taken from us. Let's revalue in all senses and cuts, from the liberation of Meghri, Kapan, Vardenis, and Masis to the restoration of the national dignity of Shush and Lachi, to the restoration and preservation of independent statehood, to regional and geopolitical facts and arguments.

Should we get rid of the war? Should we get rid of Karabakh?

How, if it is the life and history of an entire generation, crowned with the blood and memory of tens of thousands of victims, the fate and purpose of life for hundreds of thousands of people?

For what reason, if in our history, we have never been closer to our final victory than we are today?

If it is an obvious fact that in the next two or three years, at least, the enemy will not be able to have military superiority over us.

If they are not exhausted, they are not close to exhaustion - the obvious economic and political steps. Yes, they are not sold out.

The steps aimed at restoring the economy and internal order are even in the embryonic stage and are already giving severe results. We can argue about this, but it is evident that reforms have yet to be made in the direction of economic policy. Before, our eyes were on the state plan of Moscow; today, on the MAH. And if Armenia became a powerful industrial, albeit the Soviet Socialist Republic, with the money of the state plan, then with the money of the State Plan, we would not have added a single stone to the building of our independent Republic. And we will only add more once we are sure that we are a country with average potential and we can, we are obliged to work our economy.

After all, in 1988, we were explaining to the people that there was nothing terrible; we could save the country by operating 7-8 factories.

Nothing extraordinary happened. Azerbaijani roads were closed, Persian roads were opened, and we have never communicated with Turkey. Ukraine, Georgia, and others do not have Karabakh and a blockade, but they are in a worse situation than us.

It is finally a matter of correct solutions, consistency, order, and rules.

Are we afraid of the international community's opinion, the world's influential people?

But haven't we endured greater pressures? Our smart, flexible foreign policy in 1991-1994 brought us unharmed from the stormy years to a peaceful shore. Then, due to our internal disagreements and the fruitless work of the deputy captains in the economic field, he disarmed and surrendered to the enemy.

We don't want to give up.

Finally, the pressure on the world powers has yet to reach a critical level. Come on, damn it, weren't we the ones convincing the people in 1988 that our salvation lies in our collective strength and resistance? There was never a more favorable international opinion and sympathy towards our Armenians than at the beginning of the 20th century, but that did not prevent us from a million massacres. They will take the most significant part of our country, and today, they will develop the same international opinion to recognize us as an aggressor...

That a determined single person finds all possible exits, that a loser wins sympathy, and a winner wins friends...

We were right.

And that's why we believed in us rather than you.

What do I offer? Obvious things. Evident and straightforward things.

To unite as a nation in the Motherland, Armenia.

Unite nationally outside the Republic of Armenia.

Concentrating our economic, political, and intellectual potential worldwide is not a utopia. It is possible and necessary, and there have been positive developments.

Maximize our nationwide, global resilience."

Vazgen Sargsyan

October 1, 1997."