“What does Azerbaijan do on the border, they have in mind with Turkey to constantly fire so that Armenians would leave. But there is a popular saying, see something no more than one can see one’s own ears,” so commented the writer and publicist Meruzhan Ter-Gulanyan at the “Mirror” club, referring to the Armenia-Azerbaijan border tensions. He said that we are peace-loving people, we do not want war, but we have to give a counterstrike. “We have no other options. We should occupy the heights and keep doing it.”
One of the journalists argued that they provoke at the expense of the blood of our children, saying, let’s go and occupy, instead of telling the government to develop the economy and we become a stronger state. Meruzhan Ter-Gulanyan disagreed, contradicting that if the economy were not developed, the journalists would now be present with pens and papers rather than with computers. Then he said that he had instructed his wife to prepare his military clothes. “I am an officer and I have said, my wife, get it ready, I am going to the front line. My age is passed to go and fight with young boys on the front line. But being in the front line does not necessarily mean to go ahead with a gun in the hands, but to encourage the guys. There is a fire around us. The intellectuals should be with the people.” He turned to the journalist, in vain you are making desperate calls. Our army is well-armed too. Until the ceasefire of 1994, the Azerbaijani army was armed 10 times more, but we won. “I am an insider and I know that finding 100 liters of diesel oil was a problem for the president. This was how the things looked like, but we won.”
Meruzhan Ter-Gulanyan was offended of the journalist’s words. He assured that all his boys have served in the army and when he says, let’s go and occupy, he first of all says it at the expense of his blood rather than the young boys’. Sculptor Ferdinand Arakelyan added, “If they had brought and compelled, what can we do? It is time to make them understand. That nation has not given any commander in the history nor a Marshal and a General. Just a riffraff. They warred only by headcounts. We should not look poor, eventually, what fire is extinguished early, the one that is broken and extinguished early. Otherwise, our children would always be taken away from us. What does it mean, build your victory at the expense of your own strength rather that at the expense of the weakness of opposite side? If it is weak, let it sit down in its place. It is not weak, it has everything but no brains. Should it be smart, it would at least give one General in the course of centuries.”
Hripsime JEBEJYAN
