The Grigoryan family left Stepanakert on September 28, 9 days after the Azerbaijani invasion of Artsakh. “The Turk was already at the gates of Stepanakert, the shots were clearly heard, the moment was critical. We left Stepanakert on the 28th of the month. We were staying with the hope that something might change. But then I realized that no, nothing will change,” Karen Grigoryan, who was forcibly displaced as a result of the Azerbaijani attack, presents in an interview with Forrights.am.
The Grigoryans, forcibly displaced from Stepanakert to Armenia with two families, left behind their small business, shop and familiar environment. They live here in Pokr Vedi village of Ararat region of Armenia, in the house of a relative, which they will have to vacate soon.
“When the gas explosion occurred, the doctors could not come, we realized that it was over, it was time for us to leave too. It was very difficult to close the house with your own hands and leave. In the end, mom cleaned, washed the house, we closed the door and left,” Karen recalls. He says they have the keys to the house: they give hope of return.
39-year-old Karen Grigoryan lost his father in the first Artsakh war, then he took part in all military operations in Artsakh, is a military pensioner, has a 3rd degree disability. He says that he managed to take all the medals and documents proving his participation in military operations with him.
“We left everything in Artsakh, everything, but, most importantly, we left our category in Stepanakert, our essence. To tell the truth, there is not enough air here: I leave the house, I want to breathe fresh air, but I cannot, I feel a lack of air”, says Karen Grigoryan.
The two minor children, the wife and the mother are the members of Karen’s family. The brother settled in Yerevan with his family. The demand of vacating the house in the near future has been made, and so far, they are unable to find an apartment in the capital at a suitable price. Karen and his family have lived in Stepanakert all their lives and are not used to rural areas. He says that he cannot engage in farming and animal husbandry and now he is uncertain about what to do and how to live. “Who can I tell who I am? At this age, I have to start from scratch again. I can’t even imagine what to do. It is very difficult.”
The state’s demand to be registered in Armenia, to receive an RA citizen’s passport and then only to use the rights and financial opportunities arising from it, caused an internal revolt in Karen Grigoryan. “How can I give up Artsakh with a passport for a few pennies? The state tells me that they are giving me a temporary registration, and if I go from Artashat to another place tomorrow, I will again have to get a temporary registration. This temporary for how long?”
The only question that interests Karen these days is the following: how does the state imagine the future of the people of Artsakh: “If it doesn’t see our future, it would be more correct to be honest and say: people, do whatever you can do, so that we know what to do. There are many people who have emigrated. Many of us are in uncertainty, thinking whether to go or stay. What awaits us?’
Hasmik Hambartdzumyan