On July 25, we were looking for the apartment of Mkrtich Kyureghyan, who was immortalized in the 44-day Artsakh war, in Parpi village. One of the villagers explained the approximate route, we went and stopped near one of the houses. I approached.
“If I ask, could you show me the house of Mkrtich Kyureghyan’s family?”
“This is it. What happened?”
“I’m a journalist, I want to prepare a story about him, but as I understand, you have many guests. If today is not convenient, can we arrange for another day?”
“Today is his birthday, we have gathered with relatives, his parents have come from Russia.”
The father, Hamlet Kyureghyan, came out, initially refused, saying let’s leave it for another day. But then he said, “Well, if you’ve come today, then it was necessary. It’s difficult, but we’ll talk about our child.”
Mkrtich Hamlet Kyureghyan was born in the Russian Federation on July 25, 2000. When the time for mandatory military service approached, his father encouraged his son to come and serve in the Armenian army.
The mother, Haykush Grigoryan, notes that their son grew up with Armenian customs, in an Armenian environment, and in an Armenian way.
Mkrtich started working at the age of 14 and helping his parents. He took care of his younger sister. He had plans for the future, dreaming of owning an apartment in Yerevan.
“It was 2018, he came and said, ‘Dad, should I go serve?’ I said, ‘My son, go serve, fulfill your duty, it’s your duty, it doesn’t matter where you were born or raised, you are Armenian.’ He said, ‘Dad, whatever you say, I’ll do it,’ and he came and served,” says the father.
He came to his homeland in high spirits. He served in Jrakan. He had no complaints. He served with love: “He said there was no problem. By September 25, he had already risen to posts. He was very happy. He said, ‘Dad, three months left, I’ll finish and come, it will be good.'”
The father didn’t receive any more calls from his son until October 4. Then Mkrtich called, saying they had been moved from Jrakan to Hadrut, he was with volunteers. Mkrtich’s last call was on October 11, he said three sentences: “Dad, don’t worry, dad, everything is fine, dad, ‘with spirit’.”
“I searched for my child for a month, they said he was alive. I found him in the Vayq morgue. I didn’t see him, they didn’t show him to me. It was confirmed by DNA that he was my son. They gave me my child in a ‘bag’. I sent my child here from Moscow, they gave me a child in a ‘bag’. Did I give you a child in a ‘bag’? His friends told me that they were surrounded in Hadrut for three days. I come and sit next to my son, I say, ‘Son, forgive me for not forbidding you, for not saying don’t go,'” the father recounts.
For more details, please refer to the video.
Hasmik Sargsyan
