Day 17. Queue at the vegetable shop in Stepanakert: People are already sourcing food - Grigoryan

Television commentator and journalist David Grigoryan has shared a photo on his Facebook page, captioning it: "DAY 17. Queue at the vegetable shop in Stepanakert. We can discuss at length how many 'heroes' the former ones are and how many 'traitors' the current ones are. We can trace back to the 1994 ceasefire, then further back to the heroic battle of Sardarapat. We could even go back further and take pride in Tigran the Great, the Battle of Avarayr, our millennial history, Ararat, and Urartu. We can even reach back to pre-humans. But this does not change the reality in Artsakh. People are already sourcing food... no, they are not standing in line to buy; they are sourcing food to take home, prepare something for their children so they don't go hungry.

I may not reach pre-humans, but I will at least spit in the faces of all those so-called leaders—whether in Armenia or Artsakh, past or present—who brought these people to this situation. You are now enjoying your spoils, aren't you? You are parading through the streets of Yerevan in convoys, aren't you? During the day, you invite this or that political force or public figure to a restaurant, hoping to win them over to strengthen your positions, aren't you? What are you, if not scoundrels, since it is because of your collective actions or inactions that everything has been squandered?

It is precisely because of your collective weakness, inability, incompetence, greed, vanity, egotism, and barefacedness that this thirty-year-old republic is now perceived abroad as a FAILED STATE, rather than a sovereign and independent state. You can complain about each other as much as your hearts desire. You can elevate your sycophants even higher to devour your opponents, but you all deserve each other. Hand in hand you are leading the people of Artsakh to starvation, while the people living in Armenia face a painful choice. Scoundrels are more humane than you. I won’t even mention your names, but I address you: if all of you were so good individually, then why did Armenia and Artsakh find themselves in this situation? If you were so wise and visionary, even individually, then why did each of you leave behind ruins instead of prosperity?

You are nothing, and that’s why the country you represent is becoming nothing. Simply put, you are so small that with your parallel actions, this statehood is being eroded; it erodes a bit slower, but through your efforts and your strength. Today, while you are enjoying your spoils, pay attention to these photos. And may God place the food before you where it sticks in your throats."