Shusha Article From Zaman

[Armenak]

On April 24, they decide to publish a really long, crappy article about Shushi. Here you go:

 

[iMPRESSIONS FROM OCCUPIED LANDS-2]

Mosques in Şuşa are destroyed, houses are looted

From the burnt, destroyed and looted streets of the ancient Azerbaijani city of Şuşa, emerges a sad Azerbaijani melody from a masterfully blown clarinet.

 

The sound brings us to the gate of a historical palace with a spacious yard. The gate opens to a pool which signals that nothing has been left behind from the glorious past. Asked who was playing the clarinet, the young boy standing nearby the window says: “My older brother! Come inside if you want to.” We accept the invitation. Razmik flushes when we say we come to the beautiful sound coming out of the clarinet. Razmik Harautunyan is a 23-year-old music teacher; he was born in Baku but his grandparents are from Şuşa. He says he was five when he left Baku but he can still locate his house. Razmik, who has been living in his grandparents’ house in Şuşa since 1992, has one brother and one sister. His parents are medical doctors. His father is also a musician.

 

While rehearsing for the upcoming wedding he would play for, he tells us that the melody we heard was called “tarekema.” Asked whether he is playing Azeribaijani or Armenian songs, he replies that their songs are not easy to distinguish from each other, they all belong to this geography. We notice the happiness in his face owing to the recognition of his culture by foreigners. We are invited to the dinner table, where Azerbaijani-style tea is served along with eggs painted for the recently observed Easter. This is an amazing experience, to witness the different tastes at one table.

 

I do not understand why some people destroy what other people built

 

We are unable to forget Razmik’s sad melodies while walking the streets of Şuşa. There are three mosques in the city center. One is barely standing, with its sole remaining minaret and closed gate and windows. The two others are no different. Their interior adornments have been removed. Raindrops easily reach the ground through gaps in the stone. Gravestones in the yard are symbols of loneliness and negligence. While passing by the looted mosque, we run into an old man. Turns out he is an architect. He has worked in Azerbaijan for many years. He tells us with pride that he contributed to the construction of a number of buildings. “In Azerbaijan, they consider what I am doing and not my nationality; they had great respect for my business,” he says with excellent Azerbaijani Turkish. Noting that he is unable to understand why some people destroy what others build, the old architect adds: “This place gives me nothing but sadness. There are no unclean nations, just unclean people. There are no good nations, but just good people. They have made brothers spill the blood of brothers.”

 

Another observation about the city is that its inhabitants still wear military camouflage garments. This gives the impression that the war is ongoing in Şuşa and Nagorno-Karabakh. After we took a picture of a mother and son going inside a convenient store, a civilian mustached man approaches us and asks for our permits. The police officer says nothing, but takes notes of the information on our papers. Asked whether there is any problem, he says he is doing his job.

 

While he was taking his notes, we noticed uniformed persons on the roof of the largest mosque in the city center. We are headed to the roof right away. Soldiers and laborers clean up surface of the domes. The authorized person tells us that the building will be restored with funds from Iran. But the condition of the mosque shows that it would not be that easy.

 

Manuşak Balayan, who is known for his contributions to social projects, recalls that the destruction in Şuşa started in the Soviet Era, when many historical buildings, including mosques, were used as warehouses. With his current project, he seeks to create an inventory of the historical artifacts in Şuşa, and prepare a photo album that will feature them.

 

Fight over the loot of Azerbaijani houses

 

Saro Sarian, the president of the Nagorno-Karabakh Fugitives and Immigrants Organization, notes that the population balance has significantly changed in Şuşa over the last fifteen years. Recalling that before the war, there were between 12 to 13 thousand Azerbaijanis and between 4 to 5 thousand Armenians in the city, Sarian notes that now there is no single Azeribaijani left. He himself occupies a house abandoned by an Azerbaijani family who had to leave the city due to the war. He sent photos of the house to the heirs of that family, now living in Baku. Just like other Armenians in Karabakh, Saro Sarian made his plans assuming that Azerbaijanis would never come back again. He says the two nations are in conflict. He does not consider going back to Baku. But his wife dislikes their overall situation. Saro says: “My wife loves the cosmopolitan atmosphere; after Baku, Şuşa is not such a fabulous place to become accustomed to.” Recalling that after the fall of Şuşa to the Armenians, newcomers occupied the houses, Sarian says there were even severe fights over the share of the abandoned houses.

 

What is the current legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh? The foreign minister of the Nagorno-Karabakh administration, Georgi Petrosyan, alleges that some 99.9 percent of Karabakh inhabitants cast their votes in the referendum held in 1990 and stated their preference for independence. When we recall that the Azeribaijanis boycotted the referendum, he says they were invited back. He further adds that Karabakh’s population is 147,000, and that all Azeribaijans left the territory. Asked whether the absence of even a single Azeribaijani in Karabakh is a result of deportation or ethnic cleansing, he claims it is only an immigration issue. Petrosyan sees no problem in Karabakh’s dependence on Armenia and Diaspora.

 

However, the problem in Nagorno-Karabakh is more of a political than an economic nature. Uncertainty over the future stirs fear of complete instability in the entire region. Azerbaijan’s rejection of Armenia’s fait accompli in seizing power in Nagorno-Karabakh, along with the recent huge level of arms procurements, combines to intimidate the Armenians. The asymmetric power balance between Azerbaijan and Armenia increases the concerns and fears on the Armenian side.

 

Nagorno-Karabakh, which is not diplomatically recognized even by Armenia, has representatives in Yerevan, Russia, France, Argentina and Lebanon. In the US, its presence is ensured through a civil society organization. However, Karabakh’s representative in Yerevan, Garlen Avedisyon, sees no problem in that: “America does not officially recognize us, but the US Congress still sends five million dollars every year to Karabakh as humanitarian aid.”

 

After returning from the US where he chaired a civil society organization to promote Karabakh between 1997 and 1999, Tevan Poghosyan founded a non-governmental organization to seek Western-style solutions to the problems in the region. International Center for Human Development stands out as the most active think tank in Armenia.

 

Stressing that low-level relations should be established to resolve the problems between the countries in the region, Poghosyan also notes that policies dependent on other countries exacerbate the existing problems. Poghosyan also recalls that Karabakh issue is brought up in the election times of relevant countries and adds that the major obstacle before the resolution of the issue is the completely different approaches adopted by Azerbaijan and Armenia to resolve the bilateral issues.

 

When we remind that Armenian occupation deteriorated the situation, Poghosyan asserts that Armenia’s goal is not to expand its territories in the region and the occupation is only meant to create a buffer zone around Karabakh. Poghosyan further adds that 200,000 people migrated from Armenia, 30,000 from Nagorno-Karabakh and 500,000 Azerbaijanis from other occupied zones, besides Karabakh. But Azerbaijani sources say the real number is 950,000.

 

‘Wow! Azerbaijanis are human just like us’

 

We have doubts as to whether Karabakh is used by clandestine enterprises for money-laundering or drug trafficking owing to its uncertain status. The Chair of the Tradition Association, Valery Balayan, gives us information regarding these doubts. Balayan says once some rich men ran casinos but they were all closed down and there is currently none. Recalling that the Karabakh people are conservative, Balayan asserts that Nagorno-Karabakh has no role in crime traffic. Balayan tells us that through the association he chairs, he gather youth groups from Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic in 2002. He recalls that the participants in the meeting were satisfied and some Armenians have said, “Wow! Azerbaijanis are human, just like us.” He asks for the continuation of efforts at promoting dialogue.

 

25.04.2007

NEWS & PHOTOS BY SELAHATTİN SEVİ

 

http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar...amp;link=109339