A year has passed since the deportation and depopulation of Artsakh, but the issue of Artsakh is not closed. Artsakh analyst Davit Karabekyan spoke with us about the recognition of Artsakh’s right to self-determination and the return of Artsakh residents to their lands.
“Now, one year later, we are even more committed to sum up the path of the past 33 years and bring together our future actions. Looking back, we must now be ready not only to value the historical path we have passed, but also to take a new path, because history develops in a spiral. It is not repeated mechanically and the current stage is similar to the period of independence of Artsakh, when people were exhausted, no one believed in success, especially after the “Koltso” operation. However, the qualitative new nature we have now is the changes that have taken place in the world and now we have to find ourselves in several spiritual, historical, political, military dimensions – global, regional or national — and decide our strategy”, said David. Karabekyan.
He explains that it is an extremely hard work, for which a serious scientific analysis, development of a joint strategy of state and public structures are needed. “Most importantly, we should always remember that we are indebted to those people who fought and were martyred to create a church, a value system and a state. They did their best, sacrificed their lives for the sake of that idea and homeland, and we have an obligation to them. Therefore, one should not be depressed, but fight. As it is said in the Holy Book, if we follow the right path, God will give us more. However, after a year, Armenians must find their own way of survival together, otherwise they will be destroyed piece by piece,” emphasized Davit Karabekyan.
In his opinion, the next current danger is to try to tie people to everyday vital, household problems by forcing false pragmatism, so that they live without a value system. In that case, materialism always leads to destruction and the society gradually decays like having a cancer.
Speaking about the issue of the return of Artsakh residents, the analyst noted that abandoning history will lead the nation to piece-by-piece destruction. “History repeats itself and that struggle will start again. Unfortunately, for many years we did not stand up for our country, we moved away from our traditional values, including spiritual ones, and it turned out that the evil tradition was restored and the official of this or that empire began to be imposed on us. The problem lies in the fact that we still do not have a coordinating national institute not only within the state, but also outside, in the Diaspora. It even looks like they are trying to cut us off from the Diaspora, close some problems and fulfill foreign orders. Of course, the issue of Artsakh will be on the agenda. First, it is necessary to assess the situation correctly and remember our history. In these geopolitical changes and the struggle of the superpowers, we must conduct a more subtle and far-sighted policy. The road is difficult, but steps must be taken,” said our interlocutor.
Regarding the statements of statesmen circulating about real and historical Armenia, he commented that denying history is not tolerated by either God’s or human laws. In fact, the homeland is a spiritual concept and cannot be divided into real and historical.
“For example, Aliyev says that Yerevan is his city and, after Kirants, he has an eye on ‘88% of his territory’. However, many political forces in modern history consider that the Wilson Act, Sevres and other treaties have legal force. In addition, the USA has accepted that the people of Artsakh cannot live safely in Azerbaijan. There are also many other legal acts regarding the recognition of Artsakh’s right to self-determination. In the international arena, as a conflicting party, subject, we can and are obliged to defend not only the issue of Artsakh’s right to self-determination, but also the rights of the Armenians of Getashen, Shahumyan, and Baku. The legal basis is there, we just have to take steps to implement our rights,” the analyst added.
Zara Mayilyan