If You Put a Knife to a Turk's Neck, He Wouldn't Live with an Armenian: Shushi Mayor

If Nikol Pashinyan considers Shushi unfortunate and colorless, it is clear that he will blame the previous regime now. If the past leaders sold Artsakh, then why didn’t the Turks come and enter Shushi back then? This was mentioned by Shushi Mayor Artzvik Sargsyan in an interview with NEWS.am.

“Shushi had turned into a construction site. Schools were renovated, kindergartens were functioning, and the streets were paved. Shushi was changing significantly; cultural centers were operating, and museums were functioning,” said Artzvik Sargsyan.

Referring to Pashinyan’s statement that on the afternoon of November 7, the Chief of General Staff Onik Gasparyan reported to him about the fall of Shushi, and that Pashinyan had written on his Facebook page on November 9 that the battles for Shushi were ongoing, Artzvik Sargsyan remarked: “There were battles in Shushi on the 7th, there were battles on the 8th, and on the 9th, a disgraceful agreement was signed, and there were no more fights. I don’t understand why he says that. During those days, there were reports that battles were taking place in Shushi.”

Addressing Pashinyan's claim that during the war, the Azerbaijani side set a precondition for the return of Azerbaijani refugees who made up 90% of Shushi's population before the conflict, the mayor of Shushi stated: “If you put a knife to a Turk’s neck, he wouldn’t come to live with an Armenian, because we had 6,000 residents. How would a Turk come and say, ‘Get out of your house, I will live in this home’? But of course, if they came like in Kashatagh, took them out, and said, ‘The Turk is coming to live here,’ then no Armenian would step out. If there had been a ceasefire in October, they wouldn’t have come and taken Shushi, no one would have dared to say, ‘I came here to live.’ Up until the 90s, there were few Armenians and many Turks, but even now, there are more Armenians, let them try to come and say. The Turk is still a coward, he wouldn’t come to live with an Armenian in Shushi.”

Speaking about the total blockade of Artsakh, Sargsyan said: “In the 90s, we had glory. There were helicopters that brought food and medicine. At least back then, the authorities of Armenia and the Diaspora stood behind Artsakh, the nation was united, but today the nation is divided. An Artsakh resident may endure, but how will the children endure? Essential food supplies are lacking; there is already no sugar. Gradually, everything is diminishing.”