Carmen Avetisyan, who was forcibly displaced from the occupied Republic of Artsakh told in the framework of “Artsakh: Armenian Genocide 2023. Stories of Survivors” documentary project of Iravaban.net, that he was displaced from Sarushen village of Askeran region.

He talked about living side by side with the Azerbaijani side for three years.

“Of course there was fear, but life experience has shown that they did not need peace to be disturbed at that moment, they kept calm because they were doing construction there. They have done a great job. If there was something, we would also become active and interfere with that process. They were doing what they had planned,” she said.

Mr. Carmen says that the days he spent in the siege for 9 months were difficult.

“The situation was especially terrible in the last month. It turned out that there was an old mill in our village, we cleaned it and started making flour. It satisfied the people of the village and took to Stepanakert as well. There was a problem of bread and worst of all there was some disorganization among the elite. There are things that do not need to be said at this moment, but perhaps the war of 2020 was an organized disorganization, and this recent one was simply disorganization,” our interlocutor noted.

According to him, the people of Artsakh were in danger every minute. He left for Stepanakert on 18 September.

“I came to Stepanakert to return in the evening, but I stayed, the war began in the morning. We knew that there were mortars in the area of ​​the school in the neighboring village and more than 100 Azerbaijani soldiers. They were in all villages, in the villages that were depopulated. Ours defended very well. It is likely that their goal was to separate all the villages, psychologically depress the society and force us to hand over our weapons, but our boys stood up, our village suffered a lot. They started hitting our positions with mortars,” Mr. Carmen said.

He expresses his belief that they will return to Artsakh again.

“Artsakh must gain independence. This is not a question of two states or two peoples; this is a matter of universal and natural phenomena. Whether our interest will coincide with others interest is another question. With our wrong behavior, we caused a lot of material losses, and human losses are irreplaceable,” our interlocutor said.

According to him, in the near future, at least 60 percent of the people who immigrated to Armenia from Artsakh will have very big problems; they will have to struggle for daily bread.

“Armenia is not able to finance these people. The issue of employment will be difficult. You should think and move to the villages, many of my friends have moved and are really satisfied,” Carmen Avetisyan said.

His wife, who is Russian and has been living in Artsakh for many years, says that Artsakh has never been without Artsakh people.

“But it happened in the 21st century. Our sin is also here. I am asking God that the people will unite, become a little kinder, become better, and then God will help us to return. But in this case, when the people of Artsakh blame the people of Armenia, nothing good will come of it,” the woman said and expressed her gratitude to the people of Armenia for supporting and helping them in every matter.

“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]

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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