Vladimir Vartanov: the Liberation of Shushi was Due to Our Cleverness (Exclusive)

• 05.09.2015, 19:16
•  NKR,  Interview

“Armedia” Information, Analytical Agency presents an exclusive interview with Artsakh national-liberation fighter, the commander-founder of the first intelligence unit Vladimir Vartanov.

- What was the impact of Shushi Victory on Armenians? 

- No doubt the Shushi Victory became a source of inspiration for Armenians but to have a better understanding of its impact I should refer to the years preceding the Victory. In 1988, when the Artsakh Movement started, the Azerbaijanis set a goal to remove the borders of Karabakh from Armenia and they began to cleanse border villages from the Armenians. In 1991 in the mid of spring and the beginning of summer they were able to cleanse all bordering villages from Armenians, the last village being Getashen. The Armenians in Berdadzor met the same fate. It was the nearest village to Armenia. Armenians living at that time in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) understood that yataghan is hanging over their heads. In the Soviet Union it was obvious that the Azerbaijanis wanted to massacre Armenians. A proof of Azerbaijani's such intentions are Sumgait, Baku and Kirovabad events. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Armenians realized that the yataghan will soon be directed against them. The Azerbaijanis, led by the strong anti-Armenian motivations, continued to physically remove Karabakh Armenians from the borders of Armenia and concentrate them around Stepanakert. However, the Karabakh people did not want to be massacred.

After liberating Shushi and several days later opening the Lachin cortidor, the people of Artsakh looked like a one, whose throat has been squeezed for several minutes and it seemed that he will soon die, but at the last moment he undertakes defensive action, weakens his throat clenched hand and freely breaths.

The Karabakh people were able to fight against the Azerbaijanis, they won because they did not yield, did not stupidly think that Azerbaijanis will not slaughter them at this time, although it has repeatedly done so.  The hundred thousand people of Karabakh stood in front of five-six million people in Azerbaijan.

The help to Karabakh from Armenia was moderate, Armenia did not go to large-scale operations against Azerbaijan and the main burden of war fell on Artsakh. It is no coincidence that we are now able to easily say that we were not a side of war. If it were not the Artsakh population, if they escaped, it would not be able to show a serious resistance to Azerbaijanis. In this respect we can for sure say that the victory was just that of the Karabakh people.

- What was the Shushi Victory conditioned by?

- It was conditioned only by our cleverness. Shushi's clever strategy that includes the soldier's military planning skills, high level of intelligence capabilities, or, why not, our cunning operations that created and even deepened the existing disagreements among Azerbaijanis. There were few weapons and soldiers as well. According to different sources there were 3 times more askyars than Armenian military forces in whole Karabakh. 15 to 30 thousand askyars have gathered there. The Karabakh armed forces were 2,000 altogether, if we also add the men from villages, who did not have any military skills, then it can hardly be 5,000. In such circumstances it was only due to our brain that was possible to win.