Angelina Gasparyan, forcibly displaced from Stepanakert, took refuge in Arzni community with her children and large family. On 19 September, she went to the maternity ward on foot; her 3rd child will be born soon. She told in the framework of “Artsakh: Armenian Genocide 2023. Stories of Survivors” documentary project of Iravaban.net that after leaving the maternity hospital, she decided to buy newborn clothes for his child and that was when Azerbaijan unleashed its attack.
“I have 2 more children; I didn’t know where they were at that moment. My eldest had gone to school, and the youngest should have been at home. There was no phone connection. I wrote a bunch of text messages, I told them not to worry. After 1.5 hours they found me, my brother came after me. I went and joined my children. I immediately went down to the basement, they were already there,” Angelina told us in the conversation and noted that the preceding 9 months were also difficult for the people of Artsakh.
There were no medicines, antipyretics. The pregnancy was complicated, Angelina needed blood thinners, but she didn’t have that either.
They met the Azerbaijanis only at the illegal checkpoint of Hakari bridge. The road seemed endless; they traveled to Armenia from Artsakh for about 2.5 days. According to her, there were deaths on the road, only she knows about the death of 3 people. “When we entered Goris, people and children greeted us in such a way that I wanted to kiss everyone. I wanted to take some tea, but I felt ashamed. They offered tea, sweets, everything. They welcomed us very well; we found out that we have come home. I haven’t encountered a single bad incident or attitude during this time.”
Angelina states that she imagines her future life working, living, creating, and building the country in Armenia. “We should stay in Armenia, but where should we go? I have always said that Artsakh is Armenia, and Armenia is Artsakh. It is one land. We must be united in order to achieve something. When I am told that I have come, I feel bad because we have come to our house. Artsakh is the home of all of us, just like Syunik and other regions of Armenia.”
Angelina loves Artsakh very much, but she cannot imagine life in Artsakh with Azerbaijanis. “We have a generation to rise. I can’t imagine, I won’t even go there to raise my children as part of Azerbaijan, or to raise them in one place with Azerbaijanis.”
The woman expects a clear assessment from the UN and other international organizations for everything that happened to them in Artsakh.
“I definitely left my heart in Artsakh. We left everything; the children’s clothes were enough so that there was no room in the car. I didn’t want to take the toys in the yard, I told my husband to take the necessary things. My husband said no, it’s the children’s memory. My children brought the product grids, they collected them themselves, they said: we are taking these. My eldest son also brought 2 handfuls of earth and stones, he said, “Mom, can I take this too?” We keep the stones and soil with us. I don’t know what a 6-year-old child must be thinking to go and take all that,” Angelina said and noted that the children were not told that they were coming to Armenia for a long time, they thought they were going to visit their relatives in Armenia and come back. Even now, every day they ask me when we will go home. “But I am unable to explain to them.”
“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…
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Details in the video.
