Four years have passed since the outbreak of the April War. People paid their respects to the soldiers who died in combat at the Yerablur Military Pantheon.
The mother of April War hero Grigor Harutyunyan, Anahit Harutyunyan, also visited her son’s grave. She said that she hopes the government will establish April 2nd as a day of remembrance. “This war was like the war in Sardarapat. I’m sorry to say that it was also similar to the genocide. If it weren’t for these 18-year-olds, we wouldn’t have had the parliament or government. Everything is thanks to them and we all should know that.”
Anahit Harutyunyan said that she wants the government and authorities to pay attention to the families of the fallen soldiers. “Our families need help. I don’t want them to think that we made our children into flags, but they’re staying quiet. They should come to our homes one day and see the conditions that the parents of these soldiers are living in. We all have loans to pay. There are people, including myself, who want to sell their apartments. They should not confuse individuals for the state. They visited the families of all the fallen- some families more often than others. They visited these families and offered their condolences, but the state should not get involved in the lives of individuals. The state paid attention to us in 2016, but they forgot about us after that. I have presented many applications, but all of them received negative responses. The same goes for the parents of soldiers from the Shirak region. I have presented many applications to the current authorities. I know that the Prime Minister himself doesn’t read them- his cabinet does- but I have almost never received any positive responses. Perhaps I was offered solutions once or twice, but that’s it. At the moment, everyone is home and they’re not working. Has anyone from the government called to ask us how we’re doing?”
According to Anahit Harutyunyan, their children are worth more respect. “Our heroes are 18-year-olds. They all deserve better, especially those who were tortured. But they did not receive awards that were appropriate for their heroism. They all deserve to be known as national heroes. I know that my son fought against the Turks and he stayed with them for six days. I know what horrible things he saw. But we are the only ones who know about that pain. I don’t want anyone to hurt us anymore. I want the government to pay more attention to us. How do you know whether we’re poor or rich? I want my son to be by my side, even if he has to be in a wheelchair. I would even give my apartment to an orphanage so long as my son could be by my side. Even if he had to be disabled.”
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Anahit Harutyunyan also believes she knows who is responsible for the April War. She said that they all have to pay for what they did.
Hripsime Jebejyan
