President of the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic [NKR] Arkadiy Gukasyan
interviewed by Armenian TV

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
9 May 05

Text of report by Armenian Public TV on 9 May

[Correspondent] We will now talk to the president of the Nagornyy
Karabakh Republic [NKR] Arkadiy Gukasyan.

Good day Mr Gukasyan. First of all I would like to congratulate you
and the people of Artsakh on the occasion of the 13th anniversary of
the liberation of Shushi [Susa].

[Arkadiy Gukasyan captioned in studio] Thank you. This is a victory
for all of us. Really, Shushi was where it all began. Had we not
liberated Shushi, we would never have had any success in the future,
because Shushi was our road to Armenia. If we had not opened the road,
we would still be in a blockade and we would still have many serious
problems not only in the military but in all spheres. Today it is
obvious to everybody that this was our road to life. All those
programmes which were implemented in Shushi for the first time, became
important to our people. The establishment of our army started from
Shushi.

You know that at the time Shushi was bombed every day and we suffered
great losses. Thank God, after Shushi we had many victories, but
Shushi was where it all began.

[Passage omitted: correspondent makes remarks about time flying so
quickly]

It seems to me, that at the time we understood that nobody will help
us if we do not help ourselves. In fact when Stepanakert [Xankandi]
and all the other Karabakh towns and villages were bombed, the world
was indifferent to this. Yes, in the eyes of the world we were the
victim. We understood that future was in our hands.

In 1992 Azerbaijani tanks were 10 km from Shushi. If they had crossed
that distance, the future of Karabakh would have been different.

The world should have reacted to these facts, unfortunately this did
not happen. We understood that the solution of the problem of Shushi
depends on us. Today there are many opinions, the Azerbaijani side is
trying to persuade the world that Shushi was occupied by the Armenians
but in fact, it was liberated. We have liberated our historical
motherland.

[Passage omitted: Gukasyan spoke about forthcoming parliamentary
elections to be held in June]

[Correspondent] The president of the NKR, Arkadiy Gukasyan, was in the
studio of Artsakh Public TV at the invitation of Armenian Public TV’s
“Aylur” news programme.

Thank you Mr President and let me congratulate you and all the Artsakh
people once again.