Artsakh residents say goodbye to their homeland. “We are miserable; I cannot describe what I feel. I prefer something to happen with me, to die, but not to live these moments,” said Liana, a resident of Stepanakert, in a conversation with Forrights.am. She is a mother of six children, the last one born during the siege.
The forced displacement of Artsakh residents began on September 24. They do not want to live in Azerbaijan. They are leaving Artsakh with tears in their eyes. Facebook is flooded with videos of how residents of Martuni, Chartar, Stepanakert and other settlements say goodbye to their homeland, talking to houses, stones, trees and the air of Artsakh.
Anush, a resident of Chartar, bids farewell to her hometown in live broadcast on Facebook. “My homeland, forgive me, I don’t want to leave my home and stuff… why are you so beatuful to become a battlefield,” Anush’s voice can be heard through choking tears.
“We are waiting for our turn: they say they will provide buses. They did not say a specific day when we will leave. We are waiting in fear,” Narine, a resident of Chartar, told Forrights.am.
“I don’t know, it’s terrible, we’re crying, we’re already weak, we’re leaving our homes,” the mother of many children cannot find words to describe her pain. She remembers that a year ago she saw how the residents of Berdzor, Sus and Aghavno were leaving, now the terrible situation has reached them. “We can’t imagine our life with Azerbaijanis: we are scared,” she says and notes that they have packed their things and are waiting for a car to get to Stepanakert. Their path was blocked by an Azerbaijani tank.
“There is a freighter, but they say that my children are little, how can they take them, they will get cold. I said: as long as we reach Stepanakert… but the road is closed. The Turks [meaning Azeris] are standing on the road, a tank is standing there. If it wasn’t closed, we wouldn’t be here. People are in the woods; they have lost each other. There are families that haven’t found each other yet. My sister is looking for her husband.
I saw how the residents of Karmir Shuka put their things on the trunk and went to Gish by Chartar with children and elderly people. They give gasoline so that when the roads are opened, they can go to Stepanakert and from there to Armenia. Until they reach Stepanakert, they will probably stay on the roads at nights, until the Turks open the road. My sister is now on the road, in Gishi,” she says, noting that they are deprived of contact with the outside world, have no water, electricity and internet. Mrs. Narine sometimes goes to the municipality building hoping to get some positive news.
“We don’t leave the building, we only go to the municipality to hear news about what they will take us with. I went to the city hall; there were Russian cars with flags, and there was one car without a flag: they said they were Azeris. When I found out he was a Turk, I got scared and immediately went home,” she said.
However, funerals take place in the emptying Chartar, mostly at nighttime, the interviewee of Forrights.am told.
Residents of Taghavard are also waiting in the hope of coming to Armenia. They were given until 18:00 yesterday to leave their village. “The last attack happened today,” a resident named Rudik said in a conversation with Forrights.am yesterday.
The villagers have left, and there are no residents in Taghavard anymore. The village was divided into two parts after the 2020 war, like Shurnukh in Syunik region [of Armenia]. The people of Taghavard, however, agreed to live in their houses even under these conditions, but now they are leaving the village. “My house was under the control of the enemy; I lived in my cousin’s house for two years, now I have come to Chartar and I am waiting to come to Armenia,” he said.
In Stepanakert, there are long queues for gasoline, each car owner is given 10 liters of gasoline to get to Syunik, if they have a private car, and the others are transported by buses. Many people did not get gasoline yet.
“They all leave Artsakh. Those who have cars are waiting, then going accompanied by the Russians. Right now, the cars are driving along the Shushi road: the lights are visible from here,” said Liana in a conversation with Forrights.am.
The city of Martakert was completely emptied yesterday. One of the residents published a farewell video from the city and described the condition of the residents. “The people are in a state of agony, tied up their possessions, everyone crying. What is this? We are going crazy here. Farewell, our dear Martakert. My heart gets out [of my chest],” says the resident.
Narek Kirakosyan