First Nagorno-Karabakh War
In order to legitimize their campaign, those activists adopted what they called a referendum on unification, as well. They visited farms and factories across Nagorno-Karabakh to gather signatures for it. In August 1987, this work culminated in a huge petition with more than seventy five thousand signatures from the people in the region as well as Armenia. It was sent to Moscow; then the Karabakh Armenians dispatched two delegations to the Soviet capital and appealed to the Central Committee.