During a Gyumri City Council session in which the legendary Arkadi “Komandos” Ter-Tadevosyan received the Honorary Citizen award, Mayor of Gyumri Samvel Balasanyan made a noteworthy announcement.
Reminding everyone that Komandos was born in the Kharkov village of the Shirak region, Balasanyan said, “Ter-Tadevosyan was born in the Kharkov village, which is where his ancestors settled. Now there is a desire to push the border back. Of course, this announcement may not be appropriate, but if this wish is implemented, it will be very good because we can restore the village. No one has remained there; only one person lives in the village, but the houses and the church are still there. I think that we will have a lot of work to do there.” He was referring to the Armenian-Turkish border that is being guarded by Russian soldiers. In order to enter this village, it is necessary to receive permission from the Russian soldiers.
This is why the village has emptied. The residents, growing tired of this, simply left their birthplace. The only resident of the village, 83-year-old Vahandukht Vardanyan, refuses to leave so that she will not please the enemy. Her mother-in-law, who survived attacks by the Turks, begged her, “Even if you do not have flour to bake bread, light the tandoor oven so smoke is produced. That way, the enemy will see that people are still living in the village and they won’t grow happy because it’s being emptied.”
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The Kharkov village, also referred to as Nor Shen, is separated from the ancient city of Ani only by a canyon. According to Samvel Balasanyan, every tourist visiting the Shirak region needs to see the ruins of Ani and then go to Gyumri. However, in order to see Ani, the Kharkov village needs to be restored.
Nune Arevshatyan
