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FLIPPING THROUGH THE FILES...
http://artsakhtert.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1081: flipping-through-the-files&catid=3:all&Itemid=4
Wednesday, 26 June 2013 10:34
Azat Artsakh newspaper is 90. But, to follow the historical truth,
it is the anniversary of Khorhurdain Karabakh (Soviet Karabakh)
newspaper, the successor of which is the current Azat Artsakh. Our
newspaper was born in 1923 and first, albeit short-lived, was called
Karabakh Geghchuk (Karabakh Peasant). For its almost age-old history,
the newspaper was headed by about twenty editors, but it would be fair
to mention today the name of the first one - Secretary of the Karabakh
Provincial Committee Sero Manutsyan, who held this office until 1924.
Subsequently, the paper was renamed into Khorhurdain Karabakh, having
existed with that name for decades, and with the collapse of the
Soviet Union, after a series of renaming, it was called Azat Artsakh
(Free Artsakh).
But, it was not only the name of the newspaper that was changing.
Times were also changing and with them, of course, the newspaper
itself, which was a peculiar mirror of the life. The birth of the
newspaper exactly in June 1923 seems to be not accidental at all. As
we know, the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast was formed as part
of Azerbaijan on July 7, 1923, and it is natural that to promote a
new, communist ideology and internationalist ideas in the NKAO, the
Soviet power needed its own newspaper, which would correspond to the
definition of Vladimir Lenin: "A newspaper is not only a collective
propagandist and agitator, but also a collective organizer". And the
fact that the Bolshevik government really paid great significance to
the press is testified, at least, by the fact that in the summer of
1925, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Azerbaijani
Communist Party Sergei Kirov arrived in Stepanakert and, having
familiarized with the problems of the newspaper, rendered great
assistance to it.
As a real child of its time, Khorhurdain Karabakh, true to the
traditions of the Bolshevik press, served to the communist ideas
and advocated the principles of internationalism and friendship
between peoples. Moreover, flipping through yellowed newspaper files
of 30s, we found articles about death sentences to "enemies of the
people". Today, from the height of the passed years, we can, surely,
speak with some irony and even condemnation about the activity of
the employees of the Khorhurdain Karabakh of those years, but we can
also be sure that their publications were sincere, as they believed
wholeheartedly in the purity of the communist leaders' intentions and
in their advocated values, as well as were full of patriotic feelings
towards the common Motherland - the USSR. In the difficult years of the
Great Patriotic War, the newspaper became a peculiar bridge between
the rear and front, inspiring the people to military and labor feats
for the sake of the victory over the German fascism. All of this is
our history. It is necessary to know and respect it, even with things
that are unacceptable for us today. And we should also learn lessons
from it.
In the Soviet period, despite the enormous difficulties associated
with the restriction of freedom of speech and outright censorship,
the newspaper still managed to maintain the national identity and
to remain at the height of its vocation - to express the people's
interests. It is not accidental that during the Artsakh Movement
the Khorhurdain Karabakh deservedly won the reputation of a truthful
chronicler of the national-liberation struggle of the Karabakh people,
standing close to its own people. It was the time of the newspaper's
high point, with the circulation of nearly 100,000 copies. Thanks
to the truly heroic job of the newspaper's staff, working in the
most difficult conditions of political and ideological pressure by
the authorities of Azerbaijan and tough military censorship by the
Union Center, it managed to break the information blockade of Nagorno
Karabakh and to bring the truth about the Movement not only to the
Armenian community, but also to thousands of readers in the USSR. And
the newspaper did it with dignity, presenting the objective situation,
with no insults and attacks against the opposite party.
The change of the social formation, which took place after the collapse
of theSoviet Union, led to new challenges, becoming a serious test for
our newspaper. The change of the political status of Nagorno Karabakh,
which declared its independence, led also to the change of the status
of the newspaper, which became republican.
However, it is important to note that the basic mission of the
newspaper has remained unchanged - to express and defend the
interests and aspirations of the people, of a man, which was fully
manifested in the most difficult years of the war with Azerbaijan and
establishment of independent statehood. Today, its main goals are to
give comprehensive coverage of the public-political, social-economic
and cultural life of the NKR, in particular, the processes of
state-building and democratization of the Karabakh society, to raise
and to help solve the issues, which are urgent for the country and its
citizens, to provide opportunities for a wide range of public opinion.
In the conditions of the ongoing conflict with Azerbaijan, the war has
moved to the information sphere, and therefore one of the priorities
of the newspaper is to work for the truth and for exposing the lies
of Azerbaijan.
Of course, we'd not like to speak about something sad on the holiday,
but, unfortunately, we have to. In due time, Khorhurdain Karabakh
newspaper had its "own home", where it lived for decades.
Today, it is devoid of it and is forced to work in very tight, one
can say, "anachronistic" conditions. The issue has been repeatedly
raised at the corresponding structures, but it hasn't reached its
solution yet.
We can often hear that in the age of television and Internet, the
print media has no future. It is, surely, a disputable issue, but
in our particular case, we can definitely state that Karabakh should
have its own, print version of the newspaper. A newspaper is really
a chronicler of time and the chronicle is left for descendants. Our
newspaper should exist, at least, because it has lived for 90 years,
which isn't succeeded by every newspaper. So, let's be glad for it and
congratulate it on the solid and glorious anniversary. Congratulations
to the whole society of the NKR and, above all, to our true readers,
whose confidence is very dear to us.
And we hope that our common newspaper will successfully continue its
way of life.
Leonid MARTIROSSIAN
Editor-in-Chief of Azat Artsakh newspaper
http://artsakhtert.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1081: flipping-through-the-files&catid=3:all&Itemid=4
Wednesday, 26 June 2013 10:34
Azat Artsakh newspaper is 90. But, to follow the historical truth,
it is the anniversary of Khorhurdain Karabakh (Soviet Karabakh)
newspaper, the successor of which is the current Azat Artsakh. Our
newspaper was born in 1923 and first, albeit short-lived, was called
Karabakh Geghchuk (Karabakh Peasant). For its almost age-old history,
the newspaper was headed by about twenty editors, but it would be fair
to mention today the name of the first one - Secretary of the Karabakh
Provincial Committee Sero Manutsyan, who held this office until 1924.
Subsequently, the paper was renamed into Khorhurdain Karabakh, having
existed with that name for decades, and with the collapse of the
Soviet Union, after a series of renaming, it was called Azat Artsakh
(Free Artsakh).
But, it was not only the name of the newspaper that was changing.
Times were also changing and with them, of course, the newspaper
itself, which was a peculiar mirror of the life. The birth of the
newspaper exactly in June 1923 seems to be not accidental at all. As
we know, the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast was formed as part
of Azerbaijan on July 7, 1923, and it is natural that to promote a
new, communist ideology and internationalist ideas in the NKAO, the
Soviet power needed its own newspaper, which would correspond to the
definition of Vladimir Lenin: "A newspaper is not only a collective
propagandist and agitator, but also a collective organizer". And the
fact that the Bolshevik government really paid great significance to
the press is testified, at least, by the fact that in the summer of
1925, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Azerbaijani
Communist Party Sergei Kirov arrived in Stepanakert and, having
familiarized with the problems of the newspaper, rendered great
assistance to it.
As a real child of its time, Khorhurdain Karabakh, true to the
traditions of the Bolshevik press, served to the communist ideas
and advocated the principles of internationalism and friendship
between peoples. Moreover, flipping through yellowed newspaper files
of 30s, we found articles about death sentences to "enemies of the
people". Today, from the height of the passed years, we can, surely,
speak with some irony and even condemnation about the activity of
the employees of the Khorhurdain Karabakh of those years, but we can
also be sure that their publications were sincere, as they believed
wholeheartedly in the purity of the communist leaders' intentions and
in their advocated values, as well as were full of patriotic feelings
towards the common Motherland - the USSR. In the difficult years of the
Great Patriotic War, the newspaper became a peculiar bridge between
the rear and front, inspiring the people to military and labor feats
for the sake of the victory over the German fascism. All of this is
our history. It is necessary to know and respect it, even with things
that are unacceptable for us today. And we should also learn lessons
from it.
In the Soviet period, despite the enormous difficulties associated
with the restriction of freedom of speech and outright censorship,
the newspaper still managed to maintain the national identity and
to remain at the height of its vocation - to express the people's
interests. It is not accidental that during the Artsakh Movement
the Khorhurdain Karabakh deservedly won the reputation of a truthful
chronicler of the national-liberation struggle of the Karabakh people,
standing close to its own people. It was the time of the newspaper's
high point, with the circulation of nearly 100,000 copies. Thanks
to the truly heroic job of the newspaper's staff, working in the
most difficult conditions of political and ideological pressure by
the authorities of Azerbaijan and tough military censorship by the
Union Center, it managed to break the information blockade of Nagorno
Karabakh and to bring the truth about the Movement not only to the
Armenian community, but also to thousands of readers in the USSR. And
the newspaper did it with dignity, presenting the objective situation,
with no insults and attacks against the opposite party.
The change of the social formation, which took place after the collapse
of theSoviet Union, led to new challenges, becoming a serious test for
our newspaper. The change of the political status of Nagorno Karabakh,
which declared its independence, led also to the change of the status
of the newspaper, which became republican.
However, it is important to note that the basic mission of the
newspaper has remained unchanged - to express and defend the
interests and aspirations of the people, of a man, which was fully
manifested in the most difficult years of the war with Azerbaijan and
establishment of independent statehood. Today, its main goals are to
give comprehensive coverage of the public-political, social-economic
and cultural life of the NKR, in particular, the processes of
state-building and democratization of the Karabakh society, to raise
and to help solve the issues, which are urgent for the country and its
citizens, to provide opportunities for a wide range of public opinion.
In the conditions of the ongoing conflict with Azerbaijan, the war has
moved to the information sphere, and therefore one of the priorities
of the newspaper is to work for the truth and for exposing the lies
of Azerbaijan.
Of course, we'd not like to speak about something sad on the holiday,
but, unfortunately, we have to. In due time, Khorhurdain Karabakh
newspaper had its "own home", where it lived for decades.
Today, it is devoid of it and is forced to work in very tight, one
can say, "anachronistic" conditions. The issue has been repeatedly
raised at the corresponding structures, but it hasn't reached its
solution yet.
We can often hear that in the age of television and Internet, the
print media has no future. It is, surely, a disputable issue, but
in our particular case, we can definitely state that Karabakh should
have its own, print version of the newspaper. A newspaper is really
a chronicler of time and the chronicle is left for descendants. Our
newspaper should exist, at least, because it has lived for 90 years,
which isn't succeeded by every newspaper. So, let's be glad for it and
congratulate it on the solid and glorious anniversary. Congratulations
to the whole society of the NKR and, above all, to our true readers,
whose confidence is very dear to us.
And we hope that our common newspaper will successfully continue its
way of life.
Leonid MARTIROSSIAN
Editor-in-Chief of Azat Artsakh newspaper