Laura Abrahamyan, who was forcibly displaced from, told in the framework of “Artsakh: Armenian Genocide 2023. Stories of Survivors” series of Iravaban.net that in 2020, as a result of the war unleashed by Azerbaijan, they left their village and came to Armenia. They returned to Artsakh when the ceasefire was announced.
“We returned to Artsakh with great hopes and we did not imagine that something like this would happen and we would leave Artsakh again. And it is in such state. We returned to our Chankatagh village, started working, and continued our daily routine. There was fear, our village had become borderland. Often “number one” preparedness was being announced and gather the boys. There was fear, but we continued to live with hope,” she said.
Laura worked as a teacher of mathematics and informatics at Chankatagh School. She also told how they escaped from the village when on 19 September, the enemy unleashed another aggression, targeting the civilian population as well.
“We were at school, we had already left at one o’clock, and we were near the school gates, when the enemy started shooting with different types of weapons. We were very scared, the children were with us, somehow we reached the houses near the school, and we hid until it calmed down a bit. Half of the children were taken by car to the neighboring village. We expected that we would be evacuated next, but after 4-5 hours the enemy was in the village. When it got dark, we left with the children to the neighboring village. After walking for about two hours, we decided to stay in the forest, we stayed for 2-3 hours, and then continued our way again. After walking for another 5-6 hours, we reached the village of Vardadzor. We stayed there at night, it was 8 o’clock in the morning when we were told that the enemy had reached Vardadzor. We again left on foot from through the forests. I do not know what we felt at that moment, we felt fear or… I don’t know where the strength came from in us, where it came from in the children, that they were able to overcome those roads, we are miraculously saved people.
Details in the video.
“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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