"If We Are So Weak That We Cannot Defend Ourselves, It Is Normal That We Should Be Torn Apart": Arushanyan

“It is very important that our community now has streets named after Mkhitar Sparapet and David Bek,” said Goris Mayor Arush Arushanyan during a press briefing. On December 25, the lights of the city’s Christmas tree were lit, and the inauguration of the streets named after Mkhitar Sparapet and David Bek was celebrated.

“Despite expending quite a bit of energy towards the end of the year, by God's will, we managed to complete it. It has a great symbolic strength in it; I believe we will repeat these successes in 200 years,” said Arushanyan.

The Mayor of Goris informed that construction works are currently underway on several dozen streets, and there was previously no direct road connecting Aknalich to Goris, which now exists. “We are all ready to protect what is ours at the cost of our lives, and even more, to liberate what belongs to historical Armenian highlands,” emphasized the Mayor of Goris.

During his remarks, Arush Arushanyan noted that around 120,000 of our sisters and brothers in Artsakh are currently under blockade. “We are obliged to free our sisters and brothers from the blockade at the cost of our lives and to fight, to struggle, and to dance there,” he stressed.

Addressing the issue of Artsakh residents who have sought refuge in Goris due to the blockade, Arushanyan mentioned that their number has exceeded almost a thousand, with people sheltering in the homes of relatives and participating in the events in Goris on December 25. Additionally, it has been decided that it will be the Artsakh children who will light the Christmas tree.

“If we do not respond to one bullet from the enemy with a hundred bullets, the problem will not be solved that way; this is the law of nature, and we cannot change the laws in nature. The strong must survive, the weak must perish, and if we have become such a weak nation that we cannot defend ourselves, then it is normal that we should be torn apart. We must understand that we need to take up arms and fight to the end; we must put an end to this cowardly phenomenon and move children here, to the city, and so on. We have no moral right to live if we do not fight for our homeland,” emphasized Arushanyan.

It is noteworthy that currently in Goris, there are about 60 children from Artsakh who did not make it, 40 of whom are left without parental care, as their parents are on the other side of the barricades in blockaded Artsakh. The Goris Municipality is taking care of all the needs of these 60 children, providing them with all necessary supplies and interesting activities as long as the corridor remains closed, and they have no chance to return home.