Adverik Sargsyan, a resident of Berdashen village, Martuni region of Artsakh, along with the family of his dead son, were forcibly displaced at the end of September, 2023 and settled in the Stepanavan community of Lori region, RA, like hundreds of other Artsakh residents.
He started a family with his wife Ida and had 5 children: 3 sons and 2 daughters. Together they created, educated and brought up their children, envisioning their future only in Artsakh. But in 2020 The 44-Day War disrupted their family peace. “On September 27, when the war started, Mher volunteered to go to defensive positions without hesitation. He didn’t even have time to wash or eat. After staying for a few days, he was taken to the front line. I told him that everything will be fine, don’t worry. But he uttered his last words: “Dad, if we go forward, I will not come back.”
They took him to Hadrut. Mher did not call after that, and none of their 73-man troop returned: all were martyred. The remains of their son were handed over to the family six months later, after the DNA test matched. Mher Sargsyan was married and had two children. His wife Ani, with her 5- and 9-year-old minor daughter and son, continued to live with her husband’s parents after the 44-Day War of 2020.
On the day of the one-day war on September 19, 2023, Berdashen residents were busy with their daily tasks. The rumble of military operations shook the valley. Since the conditions in the basement of Adverik Sargsyan’s house were somewhat safe, the villagers quickly took shelter there.
“My children were not at home at that time. After the 44-Day War of 2020, I was both father and mother for them. I couldn’t find my place: one of them was in school, the other in kindergarten. I didn’t know where to run. My parents lived near the kindergarten and the school and, when the first explosions occurred, they immediately ran after the children. Under strong rumblings, I ran to my mother’s basement and when I hugged my children, it was as if the war was over,” Ani said excitedly.
With my killed son’s family, five people, we got into a car and start the journey of deportation. Azerbaijanis stopped the car on the road and asked if we had Armenian brandy. I said that we didn’t have any. Thank God, they didn’t touch us and we reached Stepanakert, my other son’s house. After two days, we left for Armenia together,” the 68-year-old grandfather presented their story of displacement.
As a result of the gas station explosion, 5 people from Berdashen village were killed. Among them was A. Sargsyan’s aunt’s 14-year-old grandson and another relative. They passed the hellish road of forced displacement in three days. I. Sargsyan had baked 20 loaves of bread, cooked 4 chickens and took some cheese so that the children would not go hungry.
“It was very terrible. The plan of the Azerbaijanis was to take over all of Artsakh. If we, Artsakh people did not leave, they would kill all of us. Those rural houses that they entered, slaughtered the residents, not even sparing the children. Dismembered people were found in the forests. Their main goal was to kill and massacre everyone. We somehow got out to save our children. Our guys were fighting, but we didn’t have the strength, in the siege, we couldn’t resist the 60 thousand enemy army. We didn’t have help from anywhere,” said Ida Sargsyan indignantly.
The remains of their dead son are buried in Berdashen. Every week they visited the cemetery, took care of the area, but on the last day of the forced displacement, they did not even visit their son’s grave.
“I can’t sleep at nights. All my attention and thoughts are on our house, our village, our sanctuaries, our graves. For thousands of years the people of Artsakh lived in their land, but now we have been forcibly displaced from our birthplace and deprived of everything. My only request and wish to God is to return to Berdashen and stand up for the motherland. Even if our house is destroyed, I will put up a tent next to it and live there until I rebuild my house. I dream of that day. I will return to Artsakh barefoot from here. We must correct our mistakes and take steps to return. May I draw my last breath in our land,” added grandfather Adverik.
- Sargsyan lives with the family of his deceased son on rent in a house with a small plot of land next to the house in Stepanavan, Armenia. They tidied up the house and the plot, cultivated, planted, trying to integrate in the new settlement, but they have a problem of employment. Ani has not found a job yet. It turned out that in Stepanavan not only the people of Artsakh have a problem with employment, but also the locals.
According to Gayane Feodorova, social worker of the Stepanavan municipality, 137 families who were forcibly displaced from Artsakh initially settled in their community, of which only 125 continue to live there. Only 10 families with many children submitted an application to take advantage of the housing assistance program proposed by the RA government (3-5 million drams per person in the family). Based on their applications, one-time monetary support was provided by the municipality to socially disadvantaged and forcibly displaced families with disabilities. As a matter of priority, the community administration allocated social support to the families of servicemen who died in the Artsakh war, as well as families with disabilities and many children.
Zara Mayilyan