In Sotk, Azeris have been setting fires and burning the pastures of the villagers for several days now. The fires were still going on. Residents spoke about their efforts to put out the fire and save what they had – hay, pastures. The Sotk community head Hakob Avetyan said, “Deliberate fires are being started by Azeris. It was so visible to us that those fires were extinguished by the boys of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and our residents, and you can see that they rolled the wheel on the other side and started a fire again. It can not be considered a coincidence, it was done deliberately! All this causes anxiety and frustration among the people.
People still want to think that they can resist, to hope that tomorrow will be good for them. But in any case, it must be countered, I think, and I will make efforts. We also expect efforts from the government because we have to see the end of this.”
In response to the question of Aravot Daily about if the residents who suffered damages and burned grass from those fires will be compensated, the head of the community answered, “Yes, the general community was affected by the fire. Most of the pastures were burned. The fields as well; people had harvested the hay, they had to bring it, but the fire spread and it all went down. Those people lost their winter supplies, they can’t do it now.
There is already a serious problem with livestock. The price of meat has dropped to 1100-1200 AMD. People can not sell the animals because there is no money, nor can they buy grass and keep the animals for 2200 drams. It costs more than a cow. Most people are ready to sell their cows, because if there is no pasture, it will be more expensive to keep the cattle than their income.” Mr. Avetyan could not specify how many hectares of land the enemy had set fire to at the moment- 40 hectares or more- saying that the fires were still going on and that number could change in 15 minutes. In response to the question of how they are going to start the potato harvest because the potato fields are also targeted by the Azerbaijanis, Avetyan answered, “I am the one who is most worried about potatoes because I have 220 hectares of potatoes and it is a serious threat. When people from different regions come to harvest, just one shot is fired and people are already scared. We were supposed to demolish it from October 1 last year, but we demolished it from October 20, and luckily for me, there was no snow. In any case, everything on the border is a serious problem.”
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