13-year-old Maria Sargsyan told in the framework of “Artsakh: Armenian Genocide 2023. Stories of Survivors” documentary project of Iravaban.net, about the forced displacement as a result of the full occupation of the Republic of Artsakh by Azerbaijan.
Maria states that they spent the 9 months of the blockade with difficulty, they had almost nothing.
“We really wanted sweets, there was none, it was unusual for us. We were told one day the roads will be opened and we will have sweets again. I saw on the Internet that the Turks blocked the road. I said that when the roads will be unblocked, I will first go and buy sweets, so that if something like this happens again, I will have sweets. My friends said that when the roads would open, they would go out, I said that I would stay. It was our homeland,” our interlocutor said.
She swallowed her tears and said that she missed everything in Artsakh.
At the school, the teachers told the children that the situation was temporary, one day everything would be in the shops.
“On 19 September, when I heard the first explosion, I threw my phone; my mother came and immediately took me to the basement. We stayed in the basement, then my father somehow found fuel and we left. We left Stepanakert on 25 September. On the last day, my sister and I went out, looked around all over Stepanakert, entered the church, and there was a family there. All the dogs were released. The city was empty, only a lot of people were in the square, they were sitting on the ground. We left two houses in Artsakh, I left three dogs,” Maria said.
The child told that road near Shushi was closed for a moment. And they stayed there for 6 hours.
“Then the Turks came there and started taking photos. And then they opened the road, and we left. When we reached the bridge, the Turks came again and asked how many people there were. They opened the trunk. We were very scared near Shushi: we were afraid that they would do something,” Maria said.
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“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.
Armenian Lawyers’ Association is the author of the idea “Artsakh: Armenian Genocide 2023. Stories of Survivors” documentary project of Iravaban.net and is the owner of copyright of the materials created within the framework of the project. In case of using the materials produced within the framework of the project, it is necessary to obtain the written permission of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association.
Hasmik Sargsyan
