My parents were refugees in 1992 as well. When the fighting started, we went out again, my children were 3-4 years old: it is the same story. Rita Gasparyan, forcibly displaced from Artsakh, tells in the framework of “Artsakh: Armenian Genocide 2023. Stories of Survivors” documentary project of Iravaban.net.
“Even now my grandchildren are three or four years old. My husband died in 1992. I created whole my life alone, I wanted to ensure a dignified life for my. Now I have to start from scratch again,” Rita says with tears in her eyes.
According to her, on 19 September, when the attack began, they were in the yard. They heard the sound of an explosion; they did not believe that a war had started.
“At first we didn’t believe it was war. I didn’t even realize to turn off the fire under the meal that I was cooking; we heard the explosion, took the child and went down to the basement. The children cried so much. It was dark in the basement; my daughter-in-law was not at home. I did not know what to do: to look after the children or to go out to see what was happening. My phone turned off, there was no connection. It was a terrible situation,” Rita recalls.
They stayed in the basement for a day and a half. At first, the fire stopped for an hour, but they did not believe that the war was over. After an hour’s pause, they heard the sound of shots again.
“One and a half days later, we learnt that an agreement with the Azerbaijanis had been reached. Karabakh is given to Azerbaijan. We panicked, what are we going to do, where are we going to go? The situation had calmed down; and we still hoped that we would stay. “We took out all our things and arranged them again. And after a few days, we were told that all should leave,” she says.
“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.
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