There exists no Nagorno Karabakh conflict today but an issue of the existence of Armenians. Discussion on the topic of “The Armenian identity of Artsakh”

“We must regularly go to Artsakh, we must feel that Promised Land,” said the Honoured artist of Armenia Shushan Petrosyan during the  discussion on the topic of “The Armenian identity of Artsakh” held at Genesis Armenia Research Think Tank and Foundation. As Shushan Petrosyan put it,  we must not put up with what has befallen us.

“What do I do in order not to put up with it? I work in Artsakh, I am constantly in Artsakh. We must go to Artsakh, even if Hadrut and Shushi are out of reach now, even if there are people of obscure origin standing behind the fence. The mountains are ours after all, aren’t they? When you are on your way to Stepanakert, you can still see Ghazanchetsots. Yes, the cross isn’t there but its architecture is that of an Armenian Apostolic church. Are they building a road? Never mind, we will live there: we just must not put up with it,” mentioned Shushan Petrosyan .

Referring to the question as to what problems the Armenian diplomacy should solve, when the president of Azerbaijan announces that Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has been resolved, Abraham Gasparyan, Candidate of Political Science, Associate Professor, said that there exists no Nagorno Karabakh conflict today but an issue of the existence of Armenians.

“Neither the loss of our homeland, the return of which is realistic, nor the wrecked economy, which will recover if we realize our national interest, nor the structural dilution and the deliberate ideological defamation of the army are so painful as the mental breakdown and spiritual degradation of Armenians, the spiritual obliteration of our recovery and self-determination. I have no doubt that we will bring back the territories that we have lost: our history has been all about that. We will rebuild our economy, we will re-equip the army, we will modernize it and make it mobile. However, if we lose the value system of Armenians, the qualities nurtured by the land for 5000 years, our will to work and create independently, we will not be able to restore anything,” said Abraham Gasparyan․

Speaking about the historical-political and legal prerequisites for the international recognition of Artsakh after the war, candidate of political science Tigran Gevorgyan mentioned that the political prerequisites for the recognition of Artsakh’s independence have decreased.

“The world bows to power, not to the law. We need to try making use of the correlation of powers in the world. And finally, we need to understand first and foremost what we mean by recognizing Artsakh? Recognizing it as a part of Armenia or as an independent state?”

According to the founder of the Shushi Carpet Museum Vardan Astsatryan, we lose because we are divided.

“The enemy realized that our strength was in our unity. That is why they set a goal and achieved it at all costs. In the last few years, our nation has become divided. A war started and ended, then the second stage of the enemy’s actions begun, the psychological pressure, which lasted for several months. And now they started the third stage – the displacement of Armenians from Artsakh. To prevent this, we must unite,” said Vardan Astsatryan.

Speaking about the resources for returning what we lost, prose writer and publicist Bakur Karapetyan said that we will undoubtedly rise from the ashes, but the intellectuals need to play a big part in that. When mediocrity is brought to power, the result is defeat. And now we are bearing the consequences.”

Details in the video

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8p1xVj15Gk