The Fall of Shushi Remains a Mystery, and the Name of the Commander of the Shushi Operation is Still Kept Secret

What challenges do the people of Artsakh face in the post-war period? Regarding the future of Artsakh, the outcomes of the war, and the fall of Shushi, the newspaper "Iravunk" spoke with the former President of the National Assembly and leader of the ARF party, Ashot Ghulian, who first addressed pressing issues concerning the people of Artsakh.

- The whole problem is that we currently need serious in-depth analyses and a system of unified, collegial governance to guide us. I see our foreign policy challenges as very complex because it is extremely difficult to diplomatically restore or mitigate the wounds inherited from the 2020 war. Naturally, what is happening today in our foreign affairs bodies is commendable; they are all trying to do the impossible to alleviate our difficult situation. But for all of this to yield results, it is essential that we work in a coordinated manner, as only through that can we achieve desirable outcomes. Unfortunately, today I do not see the efforts to serve our entire political spectrum in this regard.

- Mr. Ghulian, Pashinyan says that Artsakh has a future, and that future seems to be associated with him.

- I do not know how much Pashinyan sees the future of Artsakh in his governance, only the people can determine that. The reality is that what has happened regarding Artsakh and the overall dignity of Armenians does not speak in favor of that trauma. Armenians and Artsakh have a future, but to build that future, we need a completely different quality of governance.

- Mr. Ghulian, in the end, has the mystery surrounding the fall of Shushi become clear to you at least after months?

- There are many and varied questions regarding the fall of Shushi, but I am an advocate for military figures who are aware of what happened during those battles to speak about it and reveal the reality. As for organizing specific military operations, it is very difficult to navigate correctly in this chaos. I tend to believe those military figures who liberated Shushi years ago, who understand the significance of Shushi entirely. I can focus on one aspect: if we still do not know the name of the commander or the command group that organized the military operations of Shushi, it becomes clear what level our state and defense management was at. And yes, the fall of Shushi is a mystery, and clear evidence of this is that the name of the commander of the Shushi operation is still kept secret.

- Mr. Ghulian, for 44 days, everyone assured us that we were winning. For you, on which day of the war was it evident that the enemy's forces were unequal, and that we needed to stop the war with the help of Russia?

- Honestly, during different days of the war, we constantly believed that even if successes were occurring in different segments, we would mobilize all our resources and ultimately achieve success through appropriate actions. Unfortunately, by October, it was clear that something was wrong, that we were unable to correspond our state administration with the challenges that were presented to us during the war. After that, even though with much skepticism, we still tried to believe the official propaganda, which, as we saw, became a very poor game for our national dignity,” the newspaper writes.