Maria Shahnazaryan was in Russia when the 19 September attack was unleashed. The family of the 19-year-old girl described in detail how those few days passed before entering Armenia.  Maria told in the framework of “Artsakh: Armenian Genocide 2023. Stories of Survivors” documentary project of Iravaban.net, that she was in Russia in those days. She immediately bought a ticket and returned to Armenia. Then she went to Goris to meet the forcibly displaced people from Artsakh.

“We were waiting at the border, we looked in every car that came, and we thought we might see someone we know. It is a great that people were saved,” she said.

Maria also told about her family’s feelings. They had lost their hopes of leaving Artsakh. “I remember them saying ‘we had never experienced anything like this in our life. Everything was very terrible this time’.”

She also told that the Azerbaijanis saw a cross on the neck of their family’s daughter-in-law’s brother and violently pulled it and tore it off. Maria’s family could not move anything from Artsakh. “They took some things from their clothes and came.”

The 19-year-old girl stated that her family does not expect any support from the UN or other international organizations, if there was a desire to help, they could have helped after the 2020 war.

“What did they do?”  Sitting and calling; this is the same as if someone falls onto the ground, and I stand and say: someone help the fallen one. It is the same logic. Does calling change anything? They did not take any steps. There has always been a war in Artsakh, my uncle was killed in the 90s, my father was wounded 3 times, and now he has a disability of the 1st degree,” Maria said.

It was very difficult for the family to leave Artsakh. “For us, Armenian, our dialect, comes from our heart, and you want to speak.”

Maria is now in Armenia, she loves it, but she thinks that her homeland is Artsakh. “It doesn’t matter where I am, I am always with my Artsakh.”

“Artsakh: Armenian Genocide 2023. Stories of Survivors” documentary project of Iravaban.net is aimed at collecting the memories and testimonies of citizens forcibly displaced from Artsakh occupied by Azerbaijan, about the genocide of the Armenians of Artsakh committed by Azerbaijan, atrocities, the days of war, the path of deportation, etc.

Iravaban.net seeks help from citizens who will voluntarily agree to translate materials into different languages: Russian, English, French, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Georgian, Chinese…

You can write to our e-mail address at: [email protected]

To donate for realization of the project:  https://iravaban.net/become-a-supporter

Details in the video.