THE PATH OF INDEPENDENCE NEVER STOPS AND NEVER ENDS

Azat Artsakh, Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
30 Aug 2006

Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is 15 years old. The past decade and
a half was full of innumerable trials and victories. In fact, a
state is not established at once, and in case of NKR it was much
more difficult because newly-independent Artsakh had to reconstruct
the country after the imposed war it won, and build a state with
democratic traditions. To win a war people need great willpower,
patriotism and correct upbringing of the generation of war. In this
sense, the people of Karabakh were ready for the liberation struggle
because the freedom-loving spirit rebelled in every Karabakhi since
the 1960’s of the previous century. And all this took place in the
period of false Soviet patriotism and ethnic discrimination policy
conducted by Azerbaijan. If they had yielded to the imposed false
ideology of "peoples’ friendship", the people of Karabakh would hardly
have risen in 1988, and the young men would not take guns to defend
their homeland. When the horns were blown, the teachers were among
the first to take a gun – the lesson of patriotism was taught in the
battlefield. Today when the danger of breaking the cease-fire persists,
when the foe uses every opportunity to remind about its "presence",
the school remains the place where the patriotic new generation is
brought up. And the Ministry of Defense is constantly in contact with
the school because this is the place where the future soldiers grow
up. The new generation has another advantage: it was born and grew
up in free and independent Artsakh. Living heroes brought up this
generation. Nagorno Karabakh is 15, and it is not just a number, it
is the evidence to our presence, the tangible fact of our pride. It
means we are going along the right path, and our path never stops
and never ends.