All funds raised during the Nov. 26 Armenia Fund Telethon will be channeled into the revitalization of the ancient city of Shushi, once the cultural center of Eastern Armenia but devastated after the Karabagh (Artsakh) war in the early 1990’s.
In remarks to businessmen who had gathered at the Ararat Park Hyatt at the initiative of Armenian President Serge Sarkisian a month ago, Karabagh President Bako Sahakian stressed the historical relevance of Shushi and the urgent need to accelerate efforts to restore “Artsakh’s ancient capital.”
He thanked the Russian Armenian community for standing in strong support of Armenia and Karabagh over the years, describing Russia’s Armenians as “a unique bridge” between the two countries, “who live and work with the idea of providing help to [the homeland.]”
“The restoration of Artsakh’s old capital is of crucial importance for independent Armenian statehood,” Sahakian said. “Historically Shushi played various roles not only for Artsakh but also in the life of the entire Armenian people.”
In his remarks, Sahakian noted that Shushi, during the 18th and 19th centuries, was the last bastion of independence and autonomy in the Armenian world, and served as a major military, political, economic, cultural, and education center for Armenians in the Caucasus.
At the beginning of the 20th century, he continued, the city boasted dozens of factories, and educational and cultural centers. With 22 newspapers being published in both Armenian and Russian, Shushi enjoyed close economic ties with major cities in Russia, Europe, and the Middle East. Indeed, many of Armenia’s scientists, artists, and political and military leaders came from Shushi.
The most tragic period in the history of this city, Sahakian said, came at the beginning of the century. The first wave of Azeri massacres against Armenians began in Shushi in 1905, leaving hundreds dead and many more wounded and homeless. Less than a decade later, Shushi emerged as the center of the first Karabagh liberation movement from 1918-20. But its status as capital of independent Karabagh was short-lived, as Azeri forces soon destroyed the city and expelled its Armenian population.
Although Armenians were eventually allowed to return to Shushi, seven decades of Soviet Azeri rule in Karabagh reduced the city to being another backwater region of the Soviet Union. Over the years Shushi, like much of Karabagh, fell victim to demographic restructuring, as Azeris flooded the city, shifting the balance in population and making its Armenians a second-class minority.
During the Karabakh liberation war of the early 1990’s, Sahakian said, “Shushi became one of Azerbaijan’s main military strongholds in Nagorno-Karabagh.” From this strategic location, the Azeri army would bombard Karabagh’s capital Stepanakert and adjacent Armenian villages.
The liberation of Shushi in May of 1992, however, served as a turning point in this bleak chain of events. Sahakian described the heroic recapturing of the city as the Armenian people’s second greatest victory after the Battle of Sardarabad. This moral and military victory inspired and invigorated Armenians across the world, he said. “The liberation of Shushi awaked in the sub-consciousness of our people, a self-confidence in our own strength, as well as resoluteness in building a free and independent statehood. This great victory was pan-Armenian in its nature. The entire Armenian nation joined to liberate Shushi, providing material and moral assistance to Artsakh.”
It is for these reasons, Sahakian continued, that the authorities in the Nagorno-Karabagh Republic “consider the development of the town of Shushi and the whole region as an issue of great strategic importance.”
The government is already in the process of transferring many state agencies to Shushi, including the judiciary, the Ministry of Culture and Youth Affairs, some sub-divisions of the Defense Army, the Union of Writers, and the Artsakh branch of the State Agricultural University of Armenia. “We are confident that these measures will give a new impetus to the development of the town,” Sahakian said.
Sahakian underscored the vital role diaspora fundraising plays in the overall defense of Karabagh, explaining that philanthropic development is necessary to revitalizing and strengthening the war-torn republic.
“A great deal of work, such as the construction and reconstruction of homes, schools, healthcare facilities, cultural centers, roads, water supply systems, and other objects needs to take place in Shushi,” Sahakian said, adding that the town’s development is a “matter of honor.”
“The thriving of the town will demonstrate to the world our cohesion and united will in defending national values, and developing and strengthening our sovereign and independent statehood,” Sahakian said. He added that Shushi’s revival will cement “the Armenia-Artsakh-Diaspora trinity.”
For more information on the Armenia Fund Telethon or to donate, visit http://www.armeniafund.org.
Based on an ArmRadio report.
This is a very biased report. Let’s not forget the occupation of Azeri lands and millions of Azeri refugees who had to flee Karabakh because of Armenian agression. Also, Khojaly genocide – massacre of Azeri people during the Karabakh war. There is ALWAYS two sides to the story, but this article only shows one side. Let’s be objective and fair.
Dave.
Dave, I’m confident the only reason why you posted your message to draw some kind of emotionally charged response from the Armenian readership. Yes, I will agree with you that there are two sides and Armenians have been hearing this for nearly 100 years–0n both the Artsakh and Armenian genocide issues. But the two sides are not about opinion…it’s about fact vs. fiction. First off, to call the lands “Azeri” is preposterous. Why, because it was handed to them by the soviets in 1920? Armenians have maintained a majority presence and lay historical claim to the Karabagh/Artsakh region dating back over 2000 years! Therefore, the proper factual characterization would be that the Artsakh war was a liberation of occupied territories from the Azeris. Secondly, you so quickly invoke the term “genocide” with regard to the Khojaly tragedy, which was undoubtedly a tragedy considering the innocent Azeri civilians who perished in the midst of a military conflict with Armenian forces. However, would you call the killing of Armenians in Sumgait and Baku “genocide” or lets go back in history and ask the same of the 1.5 million Armenians who perished at the hands of the Ottoman Turks? I don’t want to speak for you but my guess is that you would not–despite the fact that in both circumstances, the Armenians were subjects/citizens/civilians and not engaged in military conflict. Dave, you can’t have it both ways. So let’s stop playing semantic games and be honest about historical facts.
Yes, David. But let’s not forget the other side to the other side of the story — anti-Armenian pogroms in pretty much every city within Azerbaijan during that time. The Baku-Kirovabad-Sumgait genocide?