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Shoushi Victory
asbarez
Friday, May 6th, 2011
The view of the gorge, which Karabakh soldiers climed to liberate
Shoushi (photo by Ara Khachatourian)
BY ARA KHACHATOURIAN
Standing on a vast field surrounded - enveloped - by the majestic and lush
mountains of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic - Artsakh - I look down a steep
and rugged gorge and can't help by wonder how they did it. It must
have required strength, resilience, but more important, an
unmistakable will to push forward in the name of survival, not just of
a people but of a nation.
It was humbling, to say the least, since the awe-inspiring place with
its breathtaking surroundings was the very field to which the Karabakh
Liberation Army soldiers climbed on May 9, 1992 and fought one of the
most strategically important battles of the Karabakh war. In the end
came the turning point - the liberation of Shoushi.
As the director of the Shoushi History Museum, Ashot Haroutunian,
recounted in vivid detail, the Azeri soldiers were caught off guard,
because never in their wildest dreams would they have imagined that
soldiers would actually traverse and climb the rugged gorge from
Karintak to reach the highest point in Artsakh on foot.
But the Karabakh Liberation Army soldiers did and they neutralized one
of the deadliest of Azeri strongholds, from where missiles and rockets
rained on the population of Stepanakert and other areas in Karabakh.
They not only neutralized the Azeri firepower, but they also drove
away the panicking Azeri soldiers and reclaimed the once magnificent
capital city and a bustling epicenter of Armenian civilization.
Walking around Shoushi one is compelled to feel the heroism that
allows us today to stroll through its streets, to wonder in amazement
at its magnificent beauty and to be humbled by its significance.
Yet today, almost two decades since its liberation, there is a lot of
work to be done in Shoushi. As buildings have risen and old one
refurbished, as roads have been paved and businesses established,
Shoushi needs critical elements to strengthen its infrastructure and
to return it to its former glory of a cultural hub in the region.
What is not lost, however, on anyone in Karabakh - young and old,
visitor or local - is that any attempt to alter the current situation of
Karabakh, short of reunification with Armenia, will be met with the
same resilience and spirit that guided our soldiers and our people
since the Karabakh liberation movement began in 1988.
One constant that seems to be discounted today is that threats to
resume the war by Azerbaijan and the cat-and-mouse-game that has
become the OSCE Minsk Group-led negotiation merry go round have
nothing over a people who overcame incredible odds to emerge
victorious.
The field atop the gorge serves as a gathering place every May 9 for
people to remember our heroes, celebrate our victories and to reaffirm
their commitment.
The poignant serenity of Shoushi, and all of Artsakh for that matter,
is an incomprehensible paradox. How can a place where terror reigned
and, in order to stifle that horror, so much blood was shed be so
tranquil - so peaceful? How can a people who lived through hell be so
optimistic and reselient?
This is the legacy of a liberation movement... A struggle to determine
one's own destiny, to protect one's own homeland and to ensure that a
nation will persevere.
From: A. Papazian
asbarez
Friday, May 6th, 2011
The view of the gorge, which Karabakh soldiers climed to liberate
Shoushi (photo by Ara Khachatourian)
BY ARA KHACHATOURIAN
Standing on a vast field surrounded - enveloped - by the majestic and lush
mountains of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic - Artsakh - I look down a steep
and rugged gorge and can't help by wonder how they did it. It must
have required strength, resilience, but more important, an
unmistakable will to push forward in the name of survival, not just of
a people but of a nation.
It was humbling, to say the least, since the awe-inspiring place with
its breathtaking surroundings was the very field to which the Karabakh
Liberation Army soldiers climbed on May 9, 1992 and fought one of the
most strategically important battles of the Karabakh war. In the end
came the turning point - the liberation of Shoushi.
As the director of the Shoushi History Museum, Ashot Haroutunian,
recounted in vivid detail, the Azeri soldiers were caught off guard,
because never in their wildest dreams would they have imagined that
soldiers would actually traverse and climb the rugged gorge from
Karintak to reach the highest point in Artsakh on foot.
But the Karabakh Liberation Army soldiers did and they neutralized one
of the deadliest of Azeri strongholds, from where missiles and rockets
rained on the population of Stepanakert and other areas in Karabakh.
They not only neutralized the Azeri firepower, but they also drove
away the panicking Azeri soldiers and reclaimed the once magnificent
capital city and a bustling epicenter of Armenian civilization.
Walking around Shoushi one is compelled to feel the heroism that
allows us today to stroll through its streets, to wonder in amazement
at its magnificent beauty and to be humbled by its significance.
Yet today, almost two decades since its liberation, there is a lot of
work to be done in Shoushi. As buildings have risen and old one
refurbished, as roads have been paved and businesses established,
Shoushi needs critical elements to strengthen its infrastructure and
to return it to its former glory of a cultural hub in the region.
What is not lost, however, on anyone in Karabakh - young and old,
visitor or local - is that any attempt to alter the current situation of
Karabakh, short of reunification with Armenia, will be met with the
same resilience and spirit that guided our soldiers and our people
since the Karabakh liberation movement began in 1988.
One constant that seems to be discounted today is that threats to
resume the war by Azerbaijan and the cat-and-mouse-game that has
become the OSCE Minsk Group-led negotiation merry go round have
nothing over a people who overcame incredible odds to emerge
victorious.
The field atop the gorge serves as a gathering place every May 9 for
people to remember our heroes, celebrate our victories and to reaffirm
their commitment.
The poignant serenity of Shoushi, and all of Artsakh for that matter,
is an incomprehensible paradox. How can a place where terror reigned
and, in order to stifle that horror, so much blood was shed be so
tranquil - so peaceful? How can a people who lived through hell be so
optimistic and reselient?
This is the legacy of a liberation movement... A struggle to determine
one's own destiny, to protect one's own homeland and to ensure that a
nation will persevere.
From: A. Papazian