Published since 07.2002
Published on April 18, 2008
KASHATAGH: KARABAKH’S REGION FEELS SHORTAGE OF ELECTRICITY, JOBS AND RESIDENTS
- The first pan-Armenian conference on the development of the Kashatagh region of Nagorno-Karabakh took place in that region last month. The conference was organized by the Tufenkian Foundation under the aegis of the government of Karabakh. Since Karabakh forces have controlled the so-called Lachin corridor since 1992, Kashatagh became the embodiment of victory along with Shushi. But unlike Shushi Kashatagh is of paramount strategic importance for Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh as it links the two republics. Population of Kashatagh began with the ceasefire in 1994. By 2003, about 12,500 Armenians lived in the region, however since then the number of the population began to fall and now the region’s population makes only 8,700. There are numerous reasons for which re-settlers leave the region. This is acute shortage of teachers and doctors on the one hand and jobs on the other. Some villages are deprived of electricity, others do not have water. The greater part of the two-day conference dealt with how to attract people to the Kashatagh region. Organizations such as the Armenian General Benevolent Union, the Fund for Armenian Relief, the Armenian Evangelic Society, Provance???? Armenia, representatives of the Armenian communities of Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Canada, the funds “Hayastan”, “Agape”, “Ararat Heritage Trust” (the United Kingdom), and many others. “Sometimes I compare Kashatagh with a western movie: people come here in order to make their dreams come true,” the foundation’s founder James Tufenkian said. “When the liberation of Kashatagh was going on I was in my warm New York apartment, praying for the victory, but I wasn’t suffering. I am grateful to those who fought here, who came to live here and now live in difficult conditions. But only with action can this gratitude be shown. Here a common ‘thank-you’ is not enough.” Many think that the residents of Kashatagh would have fewer problems if the first head of the Kaghatagh regional administration Alexan Hakobyan, who worked for 10 years in his post, was not dismissed. Within several years he managed to settle more than 12,000 people in villages without amenities such as electricity and gas. Hakobyan, a historian by training, made his inestimable contribution to the development of Kashatagh, nevertheless he was replaced by Hamlet Khachatryan who is criticized for mismanagement that led to the population of the region decreasing by 4,000. The invitation of Hakobyan to the conference was seen as a sign that Karabakh’s current leadership admitted the mistakes of the previous years. “It is possible that in 3-4 years, with intensive work, we will manage to bring the level of the development of the Kashatagh region to the average level of Nagorno-Karabakh. This is materially. However, I think that the spiritual-cultural atmosphere is more important here. Any work without a normal spiritual atmosphere is doomed to failure,” Hakobyan says. Currently, Kashatagh is led by Ernest Ghevondyan, who has managed to restore the population balance to a certain degree. Ghevondyan says that in the last five years a growth of population registered in the region was 200 people. “Last year we made an announcement about a tender for vacancies in schools. Among those who responded to the announcement were 114 people, but only 21 of them agreed with conditions and came to the region,” the current head of the Kashatagh regional administration says. A total of 3.7 billion drams (about $12.2 million) had been allocated from the Nagorno-Karabakh state budget for the development of the Kashatagh region in 2008, of which 1 billion drams (about $3 million) for capital construction. The head of the regional administration says bringing electricity to the area is the top priority. According to Ghevondyan, about 20 populated areas still do not have electricity. An estimated 200-250 million drams (about $655,000-820,000) will be required for completing the process of providing electricity supply facilities in 2008. The village of Artashavi in the Kashatagh region is home to 26 families – 93 people. Like those in the neighboring villages in the region’s northern part, they are mostly engaged in cattle-breeding, though the villages have no market to sell what they produce. They have to take milk to Berdzor, the administrative center of Kashatagh, but, as the villagers say, transportation costs are so high that there is no point in taking products there. In the past there was a bus service for Artashavi and nearby villages and fuel for the bus was provided by the regional administration. On that bus villagers took their products to Berdzor to exchange or sell. But recently the supply of gasoline ended and the driver of the bus refused to work, since he had huge expenses as it was. Nagorno-Karabakh President Bako Sahakyan stressed that the Kashatagh region is a strategic unit for the whole Armenian people. “It is not without a reason that for 70 years our opponents used the region as a wedge between Armenia and Karabakh. We understand the strategic and economic importance of the region’s development. A strong Kashatagh region will strengthen our position in the negotiating process. The authorities of Karabakh intend to make large investments in the development of the Kashatagh region, considering it to be a political and economic priority,” Sahakyan said.
- Naira Hayrumyan
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Today in Armenian history- 1862 Birth of H.F.B. Lynch in London of Irish parentage. Besides his study of law, he became noted as a writer, a geographer, a politician, and a traveller, with a keen interest in Armenia. His two-volume book on his Armenia travels is a classic and describes life in Armenia at the end of the 19th century. In 1906, he was elected to serve as a member of the British Parliament. (He died in London on 1913 11 24).
- 1877 The Yerevan detachment of the Russian forces, headed by General Ter-Ghukasov, occupies Bayazet for 12 days with the help of Armenian home guards.
- 1933 Death of Avetik Sahakian (Father Abraham), the Parliamentary President of the First Armenian Republic.
- 1953 The administrative districts of Yerevan, Kirovakan, and Leninakan are dissolved.
- 1958 Inauguration of the Armenian SSR's Art Institute.
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