“Everyone wanted to leave Artsakh as soon as possible, because it was terrible for all of us that the Azerbaijanis could enter the city and massacre us all,” Anna Hayriyan, who was forcibly displaced from Artsakh, told in the framework of “Artsakh: Armenian Genocide 2023. Stories of Survivors” documentary project.

She remembers how her military mother understood from the first shot that war had started and urged her to go down to the basement.

“I did not understand how the war started at once, because it was a surprise for all of us. When we heard the sound of first, second, third shot, we went down to the basement. It was normal for us.”

She told that as soon as they felt the danger of the road being completely closed, all the people of Artsakh went to shops, made purchases and stocked up.

“At that time, the coupon system began to operate, and people went and stood in line for hours for half a loaf of bread. But we endured, we knew what we were fighting for.”

Speaking about the reintegration of Artsakh residents into Azerbaijan, Anna excluded it.

“We cannot live with a nation, which beheads everyone starting from child to elderly.”

Our interlocutor could not express in words the feelings she felt when she heard that they would have to leave Artsakh.

“When I went down to the yard, I saw that all the neighbors were preparing to move in their cars, but we didn’t have a car. One of my acquaintances called and said that there is room for one person in their car. I didn’t want to leave my mother and grandmother alone, but my mother preferred that I would leave and be saved, rather than stay with them in an uncertain situation.”

After leaving Artsakh, Anna was given hope by the fact that they were leaving without any loss of life, but Anna lost her brother as a result of the explosion.

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Mariam Antonyan