Eleonora Aghajanyan, forcibly displaced from the occupied Republic of Artsakh, told in the framework of “Artsakh: Armenian Genocide 2023. Stories of Survivors” documentary project that after the 2020 war, they rebuilt their house, but were displaced again.
Mrs. Eleonora and her family were forcibly displaced from Askeran region.
“They were shooting every day; we were restless at nights, we did no sleep, we thought they would come, they would kill us. The borders were close. They did not let the villagers work, we did not harvest, we didn’t sow seeds, they reaped themselves, we got nothing, we did not see anything,” our interlocutor says.
She said about the nine months of the blockade: “We starved.”
“There was nothing, only bran bread was baked and given to us, one bread a day, we remained hungry, bread was given to the children. There was no sugar, no oil. We sowed potatoes, we sowed beans, but the Turk did not let us collect from the field,” she says.
On 19 September, 2023, Mrs. Eleonora was baking bread from a little flour, which a relative had given, when the enemy attacked Artsakh.
“Ten children were hungry, I was baking bread, the enemy attacked at one o’clock. My son came: Mom, hurry up. I said, I won’t go until I bake bread for the children. I baked 15-20 loaves of bread, took the food pan, and we went to the basement. After one or two hours, we were told that we should be taken to Ivanyan, near the airport. We stayed there all night and one morning, hungry and thirsty. On the 3rd day, we went to the village, but we could not take anything, what could we take, the car was small, we came to the airport again, and from there to Armenia. The enemy told that if we would not leave in 2 days, they will harm us. We traveled for 2 days,” she said.
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]
To donate for realization of the project: https://iravaban.net/en/become-a-supporter
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.
Details in the video.
Hasmik Sargsyan
