THE HISTORICAL GROUNDS OF THE KARABAKH ISSUE ARE INDISPUTABLE
Ruzan Ishkhanian
Sunday, 04 September 2011 08:50
The goal is to intensify the propaganda in this direction in the
international community
Within the events on the 20th anniversary of the NKR declaration, the
recent round-table discussions at the Republican TV were dedicated to
the issues of the historical science in Artsakh. What was the situation
in the sphere before the Artsakh National-Liberation Movement, what has
changed after the independence declaration, and to what extent is the
international community aware of the issue’s historical grounds? The
basic accents related to the conduct of proper propaganda works on the
international level, the current priorities of the historical sciences’
development, and systematization of the historians’ activities.
Participants of the round-table discussions were doctor of historical
sciences, professor, dean of the ArSU (Artsakh State University)
history department Valery Avanesian, candidate of historical sciences,
professor, chief of the ArSU Armenian sciences department Vahram
Balayan, candidate of historical sciences Vardges Safarian, candidate
of historical sciences, political scientist David Babayan, candidate
of historical sciences, director of the Artsakh museum of history and
local lore Melanya Balayan, chief of the monuments’ protection and
record section of the tourism department under the NKR Government
Slava Sargsian, candidate of historical sciences Mher Harutyunian,
and lecturer of history Loreta Abrahamian. The discussions were led
by the Artsakh TV journalist Norayr Hovsepian.
The communist ideology and colonialist dependence from Azerbaijan
negatively impacted the development of the historical science in
Artsakh. The so-called Azerbaijani historical science appropriated
the eastern Armenian provinces’ history, which didn’t let the
Armenian historians study and comment on the real situation. In a
similar situation, the Azerbaijani historians fabricated what didn’t
take place in reality. Introducing the Soviet reality, chief of the
Armenian science department V. Balayan emphasized in particular that
the Armenian historical science couldn’t focus its potential and
strike a blow on this falsification. Though there were individuals
among our historians (Bagrat Ulubabian, Ashot Hovhannisian) who tried
to introduce the historical truth, but it wasn’t enough. It should
be also noted that the lecturers of the historical department of the
then Stepanakert Pedagogical Institute tried to introduce the dark
sides of the Artsakh history. Valery Avanesian noted the absurdity
taken place at the institute – the Armenian history wasn’t studied
at the historical department; instead, the Azerbaijani history was
firmly studied. Naturally, the historians faced certain difficulties
in conducting corresponding researches; on the other hand, there
were people trying to create something. Vardges Safarian noted that
he worked at the Stepanakert Pedagogical Institute in the 70s and
tried to deal with the Karabakh issue. It was generally prohibited to
express any opinion on the Karabakh issue within the Armenian science,
which proceeded from the Leninist national policy. An unwritten rule
acted then, according to which the Karabakh issue had to be bypassed.
V. Safarian had to write his candidate thesis in Moscow. His thesis
topic was triply reconfirmed, as an Azerbaijani constantly hindered
him. Due to this, the Artsakh historian couldn’t continue his work.
Expert on the Artsakh historical monuments Slava Sargsian noted that
development of the historical science here was really difficult in
the Soviet period. The issue of the Artsakh history was dealt with by
separate individuals, mainly Karabakhians living in Yerevan. To speak
of the Artsakh history before the Movement isn’t right, as there was
no Artsakh section in the history of the Armenian people. Continuing
the idea of his counterparts, V. Avanesian emphasized the historical
memory of the people as an important constituent of its struggle. It
is indisputable and we must always speak of the fact that the Armenian
people was born and lived in this territory, on this ancient land
and that it is just the memory that led to 1988. The Karabakh issue
wasn’t ever raised. The Armenians of Artsakh declared a few times
the necessity of restoring the historical justice.
What does the world think about the NKR? What did the world know
about us before and immediately after the Movement? In this regard,
political scientist David Babayan noted that before the national
liberation movement we had lived in two parallel realities. One was
a passive idea of historical science and the other was the people’s
historical memory. In the scientific sphere, Artsakh wasn’t really
introduced, because in the Soviet period it was impossible to export
scientific works and books from the NKAO for introducing the truth
to the world. It was fully excluded, as it contradicted the Soviet
state’s national policy, one of the directions of which was formation
of the new Azerbaijani nation. Any step opposing this was strictly
ceased. In the historical science, Artsakh was an object and not a
subject. Azerbaijan tried to assure the world that Artsakh was its
historical territory and Armenia testified in every possible way that
it was its integral part. So, we were passive from the scientific
point of view. But, there was the second section. As it was noted,
it is the historical memory, for the maintenance of which separate
individuals played a great role. The main emphasis was made on the
maintenance of the Armenian image of the Artsakh people. Secret
works were conducted in different ways – communicating at homes and
expressing historical events to each other. D. Babayan explained
all this with a specific example – at school (he studied at school
#8 in Stepanakert) they didn’t study the Armenian history, as the
curriculum provided the Azerbaijani history. They didn’t ever page
the unpleasant textbook. The teacher of history taught the pupils the
Armenian history at the Azerbaijani history lesson. That brave woman
took the pupils to Gandzasar, Dadivank, and Amaras for acquainting the
pupils with the historical and architectural centers of Artsakh. It
was a heroic deed. Certain individuals fought against the state system.
Similar works were conducted in about all the spheres. There was a
single goal – to restore the historical justice. “The outer world had
poor information about Artsakh. There was a special school on studying
the Soviet disciplines in the USA, in the focus of attention of which
were all the vulnerable issues of the Soviet reality. We didn’t know
what they specifically did there, but we new that wide-scale propaganda
was conducted there and the Soviet state was generally introduced as an
‘evil empire’. It is clear that they were not interested in Artsakh as
a separate land. The Movement made the Artsakh issue international
both in the political and historical-ideological context”, said
David Babayan.
Were the historical science’s priorities and future plans really
specified after the independence establishment? V. Balayan noted
that, unfortunately, proper activities in this direction hadn’t been
realized. The Artsakh State University was the place where the first
steps on creating the Artsakh history, in particular, the Movement
chronicle, were taken. At the same time, an attempt was made to
create historians’ school. According to V. Balayan, certain progress
is fixed in this process – there are young people seriously dealing
with the historical science, writing candidate thesis, and inspiring
trust with their job. These issues were somewhat systematized with
time. Certain amounts were invested at the Artsakh State University
for developing the Armenian science and via the support of our
Diaspora compatriots an Armenian science center was created at the
university in 1996. Via the University’s means, the first excavations
were realized in the Artsakh territory. Surely, later the Government
allocated greater amounts for this work. Cooperation was established
with archeologists, orientalists, and ethnography specialists from
Armenia. There are real possibilities today to communicate with other
states, to introduce Artsakh to the world not only in the political,
but also in the scientific context. According to V. Balayan, the
Artsakh historians get proposals from Japan, France, and Russia to
introduce their viewpoints for publishing them in their scientific
journals. A scientific journal was also established at the Armenian
science center. The Artsakh and French counterparts use joint efforts
for publishing works on the Armenian science. Surely, all this was
gained thanks to the Artsakh statehood.
Speaking of the stages of archeology development in Artsakh, V.
Safarian noted that beginning from the 19th century scientists,
mainly from Russia, had worked here. The first year of the Movement,
in 1988, cemeteries belonging to the early Christianity period
were excavated in Nor Armenavan. It was the beginning. In 1989, the
Artsakh Museum of History and Local Lore, jointly with the RA NAS
Archeology Institute, conducted corresponding works in Shosh village
and near the Meghradzor River. In 1995, the volume of archeological
researches increased in Artsakh. V. Safarian noted the significance
of archeological materials as the most neutral, thanks to which
our people’s ethnic-cultural uniqueness can be demonstrated more
strictly. Currently, the state conducts purposeful and scheduled
works, supporting all the archeological activities in the Artsakh
territory. Currently, excavations are held in the liberated territories
and the archeological excavations are continued in Tigranakert. Another
habitation is discovered.
Melanya Balayan noted the significance of introducing the history of
Artsakh to the international community. According to her, about 90
percent of the Artsakh Museum visitors pledge the same – before coming
to Karabakh they have a vague idea of Artsakh, but after visiting
the country they leave it with quite another impression. We have
the problem of introducing the historical grounds of the Karabakh
issue to the international community, which means that the conducted
researches should be properly introduced to the outer world.
Answering the question how the works on historical topics should
be systematized, D. Babayan noted, in particular, that it could be
done both in centralized and non-centralized manners. First, some
circumstances should be taken into account, including the financial
abilities and intellectual potential. Some difficulties are available
in the propaganda sphere. To introduce properly Artsakh to the European
community, high-level works in European languages are needed.
V. Avanesian noted the poor level of teaching foreign languages at
schools and universities, while they must be perfectly learned for
being introduced to the international community. The younger generation
should realize this problem.
Our common goals and notions should be centralized. The independence
of Artsakh is irreversible, the status is firm, and no border can
be returned – these are the common goals. According to D. Babayan,
the most important is the direction of our ideology, which is properly
chosen. What knowledge about the Artsakh history do the Artsakh pupils
gain and how do they meet today’s requirements? History teacher
Loreta Abrahamian introduced in details what knowledge the pupils
of every form get from their textbooks. According to her, the
9-form textbook provides more profound information on the ancient,
medieval, and modern periods of Artsakh history. But, she considers
a serious missing that the textbooks provide almost no information on
the processes taken place in our country after 1994, while providing
quite detailed information on the RA. Melanya Balayan added that
our pupils learn the Armenian culture of the 10th-14th centuries,
bypassing the history of Artsakh culture of the same period. How can
Gandzasar, Dadivank, and other architectural centers be bypassed?!
Much is really to be done in this regard.
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