An Armenian from a village near Artik, a town about an hour and a half northwest of Yerevan, talked about the recent fund raising for Shushi, in Karabagh:

“I realize the strategic importance of Shushi,” he said, “both historically and militarily. But most don’t know the reason all this money was raised. Recently, rich Armenians started buying land and building homes in and around Shushi. I guarantee you, if this hadn’t happened, the Armenia Fund would have chosen somewhere else. Why not choose Artik? The town is a disaster. But no rich Armenians are going there and building houses. So the town remains in its current bad condition, like a war just hit it. You can’t even drive through the town, the roads are so bad. All this while Shushi gets its new roads and whatever else it needs.

“And the rich won’t care when they let Azeris come back to live in Karabagh. They’ll stay in their palaces, and escape in case things get dangerous.

“Some day the Diaspora will understand this, but no time soon, it seems...”