Armenian News
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Secret Talks with Yerevan | |
| Source:ISRO | |
| It was revealed that Turkey and Armenia held a series of secret and historic meetings in Switzerland on July 8. A high-level official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headed the Turkish delegation during the talks which led to a positive atmosphere between the two countries. The meeting came after Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan's proposal for "a fresh start" with the goal of normalizing relations with Turkey and opening the border. Sargsyan also invited Turkish President Abdullah Gul to watch the football game between two country's national teams on September 6 to mark "a new symbolic start in the two countries' relations." According to Turkish officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the invitation has been evaluated. Even though a visit to Armenia occurs, it would not be an official one. Turkey is among the first countries that recognized Armenia when it declared its independency. However, there is no diplomatic relations between two countries, as Armenia presses the international community to admit the so-called "genocide" claims instead of accepting Turkey's call to investigate the allegations, and its invasion of 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory despite the U.N. Security Council resolutions on the issue. July 18, 2008 Emrah Altınkaya | |
First Milestone: Serzh Sargsyan crosses significant testing period but faces upcoming challenging.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~By Aris Ghazinyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Published: 18 July, 2008
This week marked 100 days in office for President Serzh Sargsyan – a short term even against the background of the young history of the independent Armenian state, which so far has seen 6,145 days. If we put this period on the face of a clock, then the Sargsyan presidency would take only about 23 minutes of the whole time. But what a difficult, controversial and emotionally saturated period this has been.
The drama of each of the third Armenian president’s conventional minutes in power has been conditioned by what was accumulated by his two predecessors over the previous 23 hours and 37 minutes.
At its dawn the new Armenian statehood faced mammoth tasks, such as the need to overcome the consequences of a devastating earthquake, a half-ruined economic infrastructure, hundreds of thousands of people without shelter, including both earthquake survivors and refugees from neighboring Azerbaijan, the blockade of land communications (which still continues today) and a war unleashed by Azerbaijan, the most severe energy crisis…
The process could not but be painful and obviously the formation of a new political and economic elite could not but have an effect on the consciousness of the generations that had to live through those difficult times of national history. Some irreversibly succumbed to marginalization, others tried to serve the new authorities, still others tried to stick to their principles with an unavoidable feeling of being all but a missionary. But there were still many who chose to pack their things and buy a one-way air ticket…
Another circumstance that contributed to the splintering of national immunity and formation of a motley social mosaic was elections. For the 17 years of independent Armenian statehood the country has seen more than a dozen electoral events accompanied by a merciless exploitation of administrative, military, financial, clan, demagogic and demographic resources. As a result, big contradictions were conceived in a small republic. And it is these contradictions that from time to time make themselves felt with shooting – such as in the streets of Yerevan in the early 1990s, or during the 1996 presidential election, the parliamentary shootout in 1999 or the latest skirmishes in March 2008.
A certain part of the Armenian population is inclined to consider the latest shooting in Yerevan as the start of Sargsyan’s presidential term. An equally sizable part thinks the opposite, criticizing the authorities for a delay in taking drastic action. One way or another, the incredibly difficult starting position of the third president conditioned his aspiration to please all: those who do not recognize his legitimacy, those who do not contend his presidency, and those who stand by and watch the process. Meanwhile, such an aspiration appears to shake his positions even more.
Sargsyan’s first 100 days as president show that he is experiencing an acute need for legitimization of his position on a scale incomparably larger than the mere fact of his win in the presidential election. He appears to be well aware of the dangers that a further split in society contains. And this awareness is likely to be manifested in the conduct of the incumbent prime minister. Never before has the Armenian government been so transparent and ready for concessions.
The short period of the Sargsyan presidency also shows that apart from opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Azerbaijan and Turkey he has no foes in the world today. Though, he is ready to engage in a dialogue in Yerevan even with the head of official Ankara…
Such a soft position of Sargsyan may cost him the presidential post. Ter-Petrosyan’s intentions to commit a coup d’etat are beyond doubt, as it is beyond doubt that the current president lacks a recipe of how to counter it in a “civilized way.”
It was this excessively soft policy of Sargsyan that drew a reaction from second president Robert Kocharyan recently. In an interview with Mediamax news agency, Kocharyan, not quite accidentally, said that if he were in power, “Ter-Petrosyan would most probably be in prison now for his criminal activities. Thereby, by the way, I would redress my 1998 mistake. And for sure, the president of Turkey would not be invited to a football match in Yerevan.”
“100 Days” is a political tradition that takes it roots perhaps in the events of 1815 when Napoleon I ingloriously ended his second 100-day rule as Emperor of France (March 20-June 22, 1815) after escaping from an island exile. It is believed that if a leader manages to overcome this short but important period successfully, it opens up prospects of his stable leadership in the future. Yet, it is still early to say this about the third president of Armenia as the second “100-day” span may see new public and political upheavals under the banner of Ter-Petrosyan, himself a former leader who wouldn’t mind a second coming as Bonaparte did once only to be called “an usurper”.
The drama of each of the third Armenian president’s conventional minutes in power has been conditioned by what was accumulated by his two predecessors over the previous 23 hours and 37 minutes.
At its dawn the new Armenian statehood faced mammoth tasks, such as the need to overcome the consequences of a devastating earthquake, a half-ruined economic infrastructure, hundreds of thousands of people without shelter, including both earthquake survivors and refugees from neighboring Azerbaijan, the blockade of land communications (which still continues today) and a war unleashed by Azerbaijan, the most severe energy crisis…
The process could not but be painful and obviously the formation of a new political and economic elite could not but have an effect on the consciousness of the generations that had to live through those difficult times of national history. Some irreversibly succumbed to marginalization, others tried to serve the new authorities, still others tried to stick to their principles with an unavoidable feeling of being all but a missionary. But there were still many who chose to pack their things and buy a one-way air ticket…
Another circumstance that contributed to the splintering of national immunity and formation of a motley social mosaic was elections. For the 17 years of independent Armenian statehood the country has seen more than a dozen electoral events accompanied by a merciless exploitation of administrative, military, financial, clan, demagogic and demographic resources. As a result, big contradictions were conceived in a small republic. And it is these contradictions that from time to time make themselves felt with shooting – such as in the streets of Yerevan in the early 1990s, or during the 1996 presidential election, the parliamentary shootout in 1999 or the latest skirmishes in March 2008.
A certain part of the Armenian population is inclined to consider the latest shooting in Yerevan as the start of Sargsyan’s presidential term. An equally sizable part thinks the opposite, criticizing the authorities for a delay in taking drastic action. One way or another, the incredibly difficult starting position of the third president conditioned his aspiration to please all: those who do not recognize his legitimacy, those who do not contend his presidency, and those who stand by and watch the process. Meanwhile, such an aspiration appears to shake his positions even more.
Sargsyan’s first 100 days as president show that he is experiencing an acute need for legitimization of his position on a scale incomparably larger than the mere fact of his win in the presidential election. He appears to be well aware of the dangers that a further split in society contains. And this awareness is likely to be manifested in the conduct of the incumbent prime minister. Never before has the Armenian government been so transparent and ready for concessions.
The short period of the Sargsyan presidency also shows that apart from opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Azerbaijan and Turkey he has no foes in the world today. Though, he is ready to engage in a dialogue in Yerevan even with the head of official Ankara…
Such a soft position of Sargsyan may cost him the presidential post. Ter-Petrosyan’s intentions to commit a coup d’etat are beyond doubt, as it is beyond doubt that the current president lacks a recipe of how to counter it in a “civilized way.”
It was this excessively soft policy of Sargsyan that drew a reaction from second president Robert Kocharyan recently. In an interview with Mediamax news agency, Kocharyan, not quite accidentally, said that if he were in power, “Ter-Petrosyan would most probably be in prison now for his criminal activities. Thereby, by the way, I would redress my 1998 mistake. And for sure, the president of Turkey would not be invited to a football match in Yerevan.”
“100 Days” is a political tradition that takes it roots perhaps in the events of 1815 when Napoleon I ingloriously ended his second 100-day rule as Emperor of France (March 20-June 22, 1815) after escaping from an island exile. It is believed that if a leader manages to overcome this short but important period successfully, it opens up prospects of his stable leadership in the future. Yet, it is still early to say this about the third president of Armenia as the second “100-day” span may see new public and political upheavals under the banner of Ter-Petrosyan, himself a former leader who wouldn’t mind a second coming as Bonaparte did once only to be called “an usurper”.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Policing Police: Crackdown on cop corruption gets mixed reviews
By Gayane Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Published: 18 July, 2008
Speeches by Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan that “the number one enemy of Armenia is neither the problem of democracy, nor the lack of freedom of expression, but corruption” bring their practical results moving from inside the building of the government house to the streets.
The traffic police officers that symbolized corruption since the Soviet times, are doomed to work honestly, despite many qualify this as a ‘temporary action’. Even so, the law abiding drivers won’t be forced to keep a 5,000 dram ($16) bill in their driver’s license at least for that period of time.
A month ago the new President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan stated at a meeting with the police representatives a demand “to eradicate impertinence and misbehavior on the roads.”
However, it was the fact of not punishing the privileged drivers rather than the corruption that appeared within the focus of the President’s attention.
“Two months ago I got a question on what I am going to do in regard to children of officials and those people considering themselves as privileged, who violate traffic rules. I answered: ‘I will do and you will see,’” said the President recalling a case known to almost every driver. “A column of expensive cars with so-called ‘good license plates’ [the plates are called ‘good’, when numbers and letters on them repeat] passes by a traffic officer and the officer finds no better solution but to turn away and pretend not seeing. Even more, he finds a poor driver and tries to fine to create an illusion of working. This is unacceptable.”
Margar Ohanyan, head of traffic police says the President’s statement was very much a necessity, because it was an order addressed to both the police and the officials in particular.
“Although the police used to close eyes on a violation made by a son of an official, now they can’t do that,” says Ohanyan.
Ohanyan points to the figures showing how brave has the police become; there are 22,310 registered cases of violations for the last month, which exceeds the average statistics of the previous months for 8,000.
“All this shows the violations not registered before do not escape the look of the police now,” says Ohanyan.
In addition, two police have been fired for corruption.
Salaries of policemen have been raised to about $600-660 a month, in an effort to discourage extortion.
Hmayak Hovhannisyan, chairman of the Political Scientists’ Union of Armenia qualifies the vigor in fighting corruption a ‘political action’.
“These shows are aimed at drawing the public attention away from the core issues and the most urgent problems. But the public understands it very well,” says Hovhannisyan, a former member of parliament.
However, “Achilles” non-governmental organization engaged in the protection of the drivers’ rights has registered a tendency of decrease in the number of corruption cases in the sphere.
“About 70 percent of calls received on our hotline referred to corruption cases and ungrounded money extortions some 6 months ago; today their number is less than 10 percent,” says the chairman of the organization Eduard Hovhannisyan.
Drivers’ opinions are controversial about the road reforms. Some are glad “the law is for all”, others insist the intensifications burden the pocket books of average citizens all the same.
“The fines have grown dramatically, but those 20,000 drams ($60) are not a big deal for the rich people, so we will be those to suffer the consequences. Besides, it is simply impossible to avoid violations on the jammed streets and they know it very well themselves,” says Misak Margaryan, a taxi driver.
Another taxi driver shared the concerns of the big fines saying, paradoxically, bribes are a salvation in many cases.
“One could give the policeman some 20,000 drams ($60) and be done, if they recorded a violation and handed you a check in 100,000 drams ($330) before; but now it has become impossible and those 100,000 drams rise to 300,000 ($990) in case the fine is not paid within a one month period. How can I pay it if I earn 5,000 drams a day?” the taxi driver says annoyed showing the checks for, as he says, the ‘minor’ violations of the last month that make 50,000 drams ($165) in total.
Hovhannisyan also complains of the fines underlining the necessity to revise them [the amounts] or else, he says, half of the republic will face a court.
The fines range from 3,000 to 300,000 drams (about $10 to $1,000). Everything would be OK if no new toughening of the rules was introduced within the last year. According to the new rules the sum of the fine triples in case of not paying within a month and makes 5 times more in case of not paying it in 2 months.
“This rule is for serfs not citizens. There is no such dramatic increase in any other country. This also contradicts the provisions of our Civil Code that set increases in percents, say 50, but not 300 or 500 percent,” says Hovhannisyan.
The drivers’ rights activist has sent suggestions for amendments in the law to the National Assembly, but expects response no sooner than the end of the year.
Meanwhile, the citizens who have accepted the challenge of driving in the streets of Yerevan will content themselves with a unique opportunity to communicate with honest police officers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The traffic police officers that symbolized corruption since the Soviet times, are doomed to work honestly, despite many qualify this as a ‘temporary action’. Even so, the law abiding drivers won’t be forced to keep a 5,000 dram ($16) bill in their driver’s license at least for that period of time.
A month ago the new President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan stated at a meeting with the police representatives a demand “to eradicate impertinence and misbehavior on the roads.”
However, it was the fact of not punishing the privileged drivers rather than the corruption that appeared within the focus of the President’s attention.
“Two months ago I got a question on what I am going to do in regard to children of officials and those people considering themselves as privileged, who violate traffic rules. I answered: ‘I will do and you will see,’” said the President recalling a case known to almost every driver. “A column of expensive cars with so-called ‘good license plates’ [the plates are called ‘good’, when numbers and letters on them repeat] passes by a traffic officer and the officer finds no better solution but to turn away and pretend not seeing. Even more, he finds a poor driver and tries to fine to create an illusion of working. This is unacceptable.”
Margar Ohanyan, head of traffic police says the President’s statement was very much a necessity, because it was an order addressed to both the police and the officials in particular.
“Although the police used to close eyes on a violation made by a son of an official, now they can’t do that,” says Ohanyan.
Ohanyan points to the figures showing how brave has the police become; there are 22,310 registered cases of violations for the last month, which exceeds the average statistics of the previous months for 8,000.
“All this shows the violations not registered before do not escape the look of the police now,” says Ohanyan.
In addition, two police have been fired for corruption.
Salaries of policemen have been raised to about $600-660 a month, in an effort to discourage extortion.
Hmayak Hovhannisyan, chairman of the Political Scientists’ Union of Armenia qualifies the vigor in fighting corruption a ‘political action’.
“These shows are aimed at drawing the public attention away from the core issues and the most urgent problems. But the public understands it very well,” says Hovhannisyan, a former member of parliament.
However, “Achilles” non-governmental organization engaged in the protection of the drivers’ rights has registered a tendency of decrease in the number of corruption cases in the sphere.
“About 70 percent of calls received on our hotline referred to corruption cases and ungrounded money extortions some 6 months ago; today their number is less than 10 percent,” says the chairman of the organization Eduard Hovhannisyan.
Drivers’ opinions are controversial about the road reforms. Some are glad “the law is for all”, others insist the intensifications burden the pocket books of average citizens all the same.
“The fines have grown dramatically, but those 20,000 drams ($60) are not a big deal for the rich people, so we will be those to suffer the consequences. Besides, it is simply impossible to avoid violations on the jammed streets and they know it very well themselves,” says Misak Margaryan, a taxi driver.
Another taxi driver shared the concerns of the big fines saying, paradoxically, bribes are a salvation in many cases.
“One could give the policeman some 20,000 drams ($60) and be done, if they recorded a violation and handed you a check in 100,000 drams ($330) before; but now it has become impossible and those 100,000 drams rise to 300,000 ($990) in case the fine is not paid within a one month period. How can I pay it if I earn 5,000 drams a day?” the taxi driver says annoyed showing the checks for, as he says, the ‘minor’ violations of the last month that make 50,000 drams ($165) in total.
Hovhannisyan also complains of the fines underlining the necessity to revise them [the amounts] or else, he says, half of the republic will face a court.
The fines range from 3,000 to 300,000 drams (about $10 to $1,000). Everything would be OK if no new toughening of the rules was introduced within the last year. According to the new rules the sum of the fine triples in case of not paying within a month and makes 5 times more in case of not paying it in 2 months.
“This rule is for serfs not citizens. There is no such dramatic increase in any other country. This also contradicts the provisions of our Civil Code that set increases in percents, say 50, but not 300 or 500 percent,” says Hovhannisyan.
The drivers’ rights activist has sent suggestions for amendments in the law to the National Assembly, but expects response no sooner than the end of the year.
Meanwhile, the citizens who have accepted the challenge of driving in the streets of Yerevan will content themselves with a unique opportunity to communicate with honest police officers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Liberated but Not Rebuilt: Shushi needs $millions to reclaim national glory
By Aris Ghazinyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Published: 18 July, 2008
While the Armenian idea is hidden across Ararat in the west, it is 400 kilometers to the east of the biblical mountain where the sun of the nation’s prospects rises.
The extinguished volcano cannot be seen from Shushi, in Nagorno-Karabakh, but still it is this town that is undoubtedly the main indicator of the Armenian idea today.
The white pointed dome of the Saint Ghazanchetsots church pierces the azure of the Karabakh sky and beckons Armenians who seek communion. All roads in Shushi since recent times have led to the cathedral. And a Sunday liturgy with sanctification of bread and wine is an epicenter of the spread of life-asserting impulses of the symbol of Karabakh delivered from the 70-year Turkic yoke.
Here, a priest stands in the place where some 17-18 years ago Alazani shells were arranged to be used to bomb Stepanakert, Berdadzor and Karintak. Saint Ghazanchetsots, which was turned by Azeris into a weapon and ammunition depot, is a spiritual arsenal of the Armenian people today.
Varduhi Hakobjanyan sells candles in the church vestibule. She returned to her native Karabakh in the midst of the war: “For many years our family lived in Chechnya. My children were born in Grozny. The Azeri aggression made my husband return to Karabakh and join the volunteer groups. We went over to Martakert. It was there that Robert died in one of the battles. At the moment of his death our son was 10 and daughter did not go to school yet. Today, they are adults…We will not leave Shushi. The memory of my husband obliges us to live in this liberated town.”
But do many think the same way today? While as of August 1, 1992 the population of Shushi was 4,500, then in 2004 (the latest count) it fluctuated between 3,100-3,200. Head of the Department for Refugee, Migration and Resettlement Affairs attached to the NKR Government Serzh Amirkhanyan says the town is capable of having about 10,000 residents, “however we alone cannot ensure that.”
The budget of Shushi, which until recently was $80,000, reflected the value of the Armenian dream. This dream was in fact worth a one-room apartment in downtown Yerevan. For 16 years the nation has not revealed its capability to build a town of the Armenian idea. Shushi today is begging alms before the eyes of the whole world community. The Armenian nation cannot collect $25-30 million needed for building a modern town with a population of 10,000. And the problem is not in money, of course, it is in the Idea that was really left across the mountain…
While the search for an ark is continuing on the slopes of Ararat, the Armenian nation needs to be building another ark, this time 400 kilometers to the east of the mountain.
Armine Nersisyan, lives and creates in her native town with great faith. The author of wonderful poems about peace, land, a weeping willow - a mourning mother who lost her son during the war, she has already gained recognition in the literary circles of Karabakh. The father of the girl, Aramayis, was an active participant of the defense of Karabakh, a second-category disabled. His wife Aregnazan warred along with him in the same detachment. “Shushi is the crown of Karabakh,” she says. “To live and bring up children here is a special mission. A person deprived of the sense of being part of something lofty and historical is unlikely to understand me. To be called a Shushi resident is a great honor. And it was for this right that the liberation of the town was undertaken in May 1992.”
Today’s Shushi is obviously the most contrast populated area of the Armenian land. The triumph of the national spirit roves here along poor streets and begs alms on the shield of the victor. In no other city or town of the Homeland has the spiritual immunity of the population soared so high as here, and not fallen so low materially…
The current state of Shushi is the most vulnerable point of Armenian diplomacy. Against the background of the general and evident economic growth in Karabakh, the improper appearance of Shushi, of course, asks for a political answer.
A question arises: Why hasn’t the town been built for 16 years? Wasn’t it because Shushi (along with Berdzor/Lachin) has always been mentioned as a separate point in the negotiating process?
Still four years ago, the then Prime Minister of the NKR Anushavan Danielyan stated: “The current generation of the Armenian people has a mission not only of liberating Shushi, but also rebuilding it. It is necessary to draw the whole national potential to this problem… Shushi should have about 7-10,000 residents and function first of all as a good resort. For this a sum of about $30-35 million is needed. With this capital made available, the work can be completed within 4-5 years.”
Four or five years later, there is no good resort yet. Though, it is this period during which Yerevan was turned into one big construction site and the number of buildings put into operation several times exceeded the modest scale of urban development needed for Shushi.
An Armenian government delegation was on a working visit to the NKR on July 4-5. A wide range of issues on cooperation between the NKR and Armenia were discussed in Stepanakert.
The “Shushi issue”, many here hope, will be paid more attention to after this visit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The extinguished volcano cannot be seen from Shushi, in Nagorno-Karabakh, but still it is this town that is undoubtedly the main indicator of the Armenian idea today.
The white pointed dome of the Saint Ghazanchetsots church pierces the azure of the Karabakh sky and beckons Armenians who seek communion. All roads in Shushi since recent times have led to the cathedral. And a Sunday liturgy with sanctification of bread and wine is an epicenter of the spread of life-asserting impulses of the symbol of Karabakh delivered from the 70-year Turkic yoke.
Here, a priest stands in the place where some 17-18 years ago Alazani shells were arranged to be used to bomb Stepanakert, Berdadzor and Karintak. Saint Ghazanchetsots, which was turned by Azeris into a weapon and ammunition depot, is a spiritual arsenal of the Armenian people today.
Varduhi Hakobjanyan sells candles in the church vestibule. She returned to her native Karabakh in the midst of the war: “For many years our family lived in Chechnya. My children were born in Grozny. The Azeri aggression made my husband return to Karabakh and join the volunteer groups. We went over to Martakert. It was there that Robert died in one of the battles. At the moment of his death our son was 10 and daughter did not go to school yet. Today, they are adults…We will not leave Shushi. The memory of my husband obliges us to live in this liberated town.”
But do many think the same way today? While as of August 1, 1992 the population of Shushi was 4,500, then in 2004 (the latest count) it fluctuated between 3,100-3,200. Head of the Department for Refugee, Migration and Resettlement Affairs attached to the NKR Government Serzh Amirkhanyan says the town is capable of having about 10,000 residents, “however we alone cannot ensure that.”
The budget of Shushi, which until recently was $80,000, reflected the value of the Armenian dream. This dream was in fact worth a one-room apartment in downtown Yerevan. For 16 years the nation has not revealed its capability to build a town of the Armenian idea. Shushi today is begging alms before the eyes of the whole world community. The Armenian nation cannot collect $25-30 million needed for building a modern town with a population of 10,000. And the problem is not in money, of course, it is in the Idea that was really left across the mountain…
While the search for an ark is continuing on the slopes of Ararat, the Armenian nation needs to be building another ark, this time 400 kilometers to the east of the mountain.
Armine Nersisyan, lives and creates in her native town with great faith. The author of wonderful poems about peace, land, a weeping willow - a mourning mother who lost her son during the war, she has already gained recognition in the literary circles of Karabakh. The father of the girl, Aramayis, was an active participant of the defense of Karabakh, a second-category disabled. His wife Aregnazan warred along with him in the same detachment. “Shushi is the crown of Karabakh,” she says. “To live and bring up children here is a special mission. A person deprived of the sense of being part of something lofty and historical is unlikely to understand me. To be called a Shushi resident is a great honor. And it was for this right that the liberation of the town was undertaken in May 1992.”
Today’s Shushi is obviously the most contrast populated area of the Armenian land. The triumph of the national spirit roves here along poor streets and begs alms on the shield of the victor. In no other city or town of the Homeland has the spiritual immunity of the population soared so high as here, and not fallen so low materially…
The current state of Shushi is the most vulnerable point of Armenian diplomacy. Against the background of the general and evident economic growth in Karabakh, the improper appearance of Shushi, of course, asks for a political answer.
A question arises: Why hasn’t the town been built for 16 years? Wasn’t it because Shushi (along with Berdzor/Lachin) has always been mentioned as a separate point in the negotiating process?
Still four years ago, the then Prime Minister of the NKR Anushavan Danielyan stated: “The current generation of the Armenian people has a mission not only of liberating Shushi, but also rebuilding it. It is necessary to draw the whole national potential to this problem… Shushi should have about 7-10,000 residents and function first of all as a good resort. For this a sum of about $30-35 million is needed. With this capital made available, the work can be completed within 4-5 years.”
Four or five years later, there is no good resort yet. Though, it is this period during which Yerevan was turned into one big construction site and the number of buildings put into operation several times exceeded the modest scale of urban development needed for Shushi.
An Armenian government delegation was on a working visit to the NKR on July 4-5. A wide range of issues on cooperation between the NKR and Armenia were discussed in Stepanakert.
The “Shushi issue”, many here hope, will be paid more attention to after this visit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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