"Dear compatriots,
Today is March 5th. I would like to say a few words to you as Ruben Vardanyan, as I am a person with an Armenian soul, speaking and thinking in Russian. A person of the world, happy with my wife, loving everyone, self-educating, and having faith in God.
First of all, I want to thank all of you for supporting me with your thoughts, prayers, and letters, for not remaining indifferent to what is happening here. I feel it, and it gives me strength. Thought is material. I am in good condition, strong, my health is normal, I am at peace with myself, and spiritually stronger than ever.
I want to apologize to my beloved wife, my family, all my relatives, and loved ones, whom I am causing pain and distress with this decision. But you know that each of us has our own path, and I have chosen this path for myself. Our destinies are predetermined by God, but the paths we take are always our choice. Even if we abandon our choice, someone else will always make that decision for us.
I want to emphasize once again that this decision of mine is in no way related to me, my condition, or the conditions in the isolation room, as it was last time when I was on hunger strike for 20 days, until April 24th, until midnight. This... is a protest against the process, against how this judicial process is being carried out.
I am aware of what I am getting into, I have been prepared and I am ready for even worse conditions. I am not a victim, I do not need pity, as this is a conscious decision.
My demands are the same. If you are going to judge, do so professionally, openly, and publicly, in accordance with all of Azerbaijan’s laws and procedures, together with others, in the presence of international media and observers, if you are so confident in your fairness. Do not isolate my case artificially. Why is my case singled out when all my charges are based on the fact that, as you believe, I am a member of an organized criminal group, which I allegedly joined in [19]87?
Do not violate your own laws and procedures. Do not falsify documents, do not distort protocols. After all, you have everything, all my gadgets, all my documents. Do not turn the trial into a formal procedure, a mimicry, a show. If you are going to judge, do so justly.
To all my compatriots, my dear and beloved ones, I want to say the following: they are not judging me and the other 15 individuals, they are judging all Armenians. And if you do not understand this, then it is a great tragedy, because this is not the end of the entire history, the conflict, but merely another stage, unfortunately, for all parties involved.
I am accused of everything, everything that has happened since 1987. No problem. I am ready to bear the heaviest punishment for this, as long as it helps establish peace and stability. But the illusion is that later on, everyone will leave you in peace, and you will be able to go about your work and enjoy life, without thinking about the problems ahead.
When I moved to Artsakh, I knew what I was getting into. Every person in their life does everything only for themselves, for their own sake, and answers to God alone for their thoughts, words, and actions. I am deeply convinced of this. And even if someone sacrifices themselves for the Homeland, for family, or for principles, it is only their personal decision and their responsibility. So, in this sense, I have made every decision consciously.
I do not know whether I will have the opportunity to communicate with you, so I want to apologize to all those I have ever hurt with words, deeds, or neglect. Please forgive me. I did not do it with bad intentions, jealousy, pride, or revenge. I would never want to hurt anyone.
I especially want to talk about one person, whose pain, caused by me, is the heaviest for me. This is about Alvard. If I hadn’t been in your car with you and your husband, she would be next to you now. Please forgive me. For me, this is the hardest punishment: that another person is suffering because of me along with all of us.
I also want to apologize specifically to all the children who were deprived of their homeland, for not being able to do everything I could and should have done to prevent this. I did as much as I thought I had the moral right to do, as I was with you. I am happy that I managed to prevent some things that, in my opinion… I believe they could have definitively broken us as a nation. I managed to stop it and change the course of history a bit.
I was happy to be with you, the people of Artsakh, during those difficult days, feeling your love, trust, warmth, and gratitude throughout. I am proud of you, the truly simple people I hold dear, and I love you all.
I am a very happy person. God has blessed me with a wonderful family, friends. I have implemented countless projects with my unique partners. I have seen a lot in the world. But despite all the hardships, the blockade, the uncertainty of the future, the tough conditions, these were some of the best days of my life. We were restoring the Hakobavank together, sharing food, and dancing our dances.
I am happy that I was able to carry out several dozen projects in Artsakh with many friends and partners. Among them, I want to give special thanks to my Muslim friend (I will not name him to avoid creating issues) for restoring the mosque in Shushi together.
Remember, one should never respond to evil with evil. It only grows and gets stronger. After Sumgait, there is Khojaly, and it goes on endlessly. This path has always been unacceptable to me because it has no future; it is a dead-end that, unfortunately, doesn’t end well.
I also want to thank the many Azerbaijanis I have interacted with here for their loyalty to human values, even when they consider me an enemy and have accumulated dissatisfaction. They have preserved their humanity. And to all those who have behaved otherwise, I sincerely pity them and forgive them, as well as the Armenians in Armenia who treat me and my family in the same way.
I am an optimist and I believe that despite all this, we will overcome all challenges and difficulties, and we will once again live in our homeland in peace with our neighbors, respecting each other. I believe that we will overcome mutual enmity and accumulated hatred, as some people have done.
But if we want to truly achieve this, we need real, long-term peace—not one signed on paper, but one that is realized. We must remember that no one owes us anything, that only with strong people, an elite, a country with dignity and honor, can real agreements be reached.
This is a great responsibility for the elite, which is considered elite not because of having a lot of money, connections, power, or even intellect, but for understanding that those who are given a lot are expected to give even more. And for that real elite, the personal always comes after the public; the responsibility for the future of the nation and the country always takes precedence over personal interests and desires.
And lastly, in memory of all the victims of this terrible conflict, I am deeply convinced that there are more important things than the life of one person: it is the need to preserve the good, the light, the values, the sacred beliefs, and the faith that distinguishes a human from a robot. Without this, the world would collapse into chaos or be destroyed by floods or other disasters. We cannot become slaves to the golden calf. This has already happened in human history. Let us not allow its repetition, and for that, we must make every effort, because faith in values is the foundation of our future.
Therefore, for the preservation of these fundamental values, pillars, and messages, which are of the utmost importance to me, I am ready to reconcile with myself to the end and be completely happy. Because happiness begins and ends within you when you are in harmony with yourself.
I am happy that I can serve my people and the principles I consider important for all of humanity, not just our people.
And lastly, I have realized here that one should never succumb to despair, indifference, and I have understood why it is considered one of the seven deadly sins. At one point, I thought envy or pride were worse. But despair, hopelessness means that the spark of God within you has gone out, that you have stopped believing, that you have simply raised your hands and surrendered. I urge you - never do that. I would like us never to be disappointed and never succumb to despair. Please. This is the foundation of our future, and that is why I value the opportunity given to me.
I will do everything I can and will continue to do everything I can.
I love you all. I am confident that everything will be fine. I have always been with you, and I will continue to be with you. I am a person who wants to live, love, and continue my work. But I believe that what I am doing is right because it is the only way to get you out of the indifference you are in.
{Continues in Armenian} “Lyokh lava linelu” (“Everything will be ok” in Artsakh dialect)
I am confident that despite all the challenges ahead, we will overcome them. I am with you as Ruben Vardanyan, son of Karlen, grandson of Hamo Vardanyan, and with my entire heritage - my parents' and my Artsakh grandmother’s legacy. Thank you for giving me the happiness of being Armenian and loving my homeland."