"KARABAKH WILL ALWAYS BE OURS," ARMENIAN LEADER SAYS AMID TALKS WITH AZERBAIJAN

Public Television of Armenia
Nov 28 2009

"Karabakh will always be ours", Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has
said and urged his compatriots to play an active role in the annual
fundraising. Speaking on the occasion of the 12th annual telethon of
the Armenia Foundation held on 26 November in Los Angeles, Sargsyan
called Armenians to unite and contribute to restoration of Susa in
Karabakh. Sargsyan said the telethon is a good occasion to show that
there "is no split" between Armenia and the Diaspora. The following
is an excerpt from report by state-owned Armenian Public TV on 26
November:

[Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan] Dear compatriots, as you know,
the annual fundraising of the Armenia Foundation which is often fairly
called a national contributor, has stated. This time our donations
will be channelled into the development programmes in Susa [a city
populated by Azerbaijanis of Karabakh until occupation by Armenian
forces], which was educational and cultural centre of the eastern
Armenia; we have always proud of Susa which needs our assistance now.

There are maybe few cities in the world which have such a complicated
fate as Susa. There has been no war in our region during which our
beautiful castle-city not suffer greatly. It is enough to recall that
in the past 200 years, Susa changed hands at least fifteen times and
due to this, it is ten times more precious for us.

Nowadays, time has come to ask ourselves a question – what did we do
and what are we doing for Susa? This year’s fundraising has a special
context – not only for all Armenians of the world but also for the
international community which is still under impression of signing
of the Armenian-Turkish protocols. It is not a secret for anyone that
this impression is contradictory.

For the time being, both Armenia and Diaspora are in the centre
of attention. Each of our current steps is assessed not only by our
brothers and sisters, who live in Armenia and across the world but also
by our friends and foes. We have something to prove both to ourselves
and to the whole world. We should prove to all that there is no split
between the Motherland and the Diaspora; that at this historical and
turning moment, we are standing by each other even stronger and have
settled down the cause of the progress of our country with greater
devotion. We need to prove to all that all Armenians will not grudge
anything in order to have new and prosperous Susa that we deserve our
victories and [deserve] the honour of being the owner of the ancient
capital of Artsakh [Karabakh].

A garden is taken care of by its owner. No-one respects an owner of
an untended garden. Also with this fundraising, we must again prove
that Artsakh is our now and will be ours forever. We must discourage
all those who still have some expectations on this issue. This is a
good occasion for us to demonstrate the united attitude of Armenians,
their forces regarding our national goals and also a circumstance of
being a serious factor in the region.