“Two bundles of hay were burned and 400,000 were damaged. How can someone work and take care of their three children?” For several days now, the enemy has been deliberately burning the pastures of the border village of Sotk in Gegharkunik region.
Sotk resident Avetis Zargaryan told us that the villagers tried to put out the fires with their efforts. “But yesterday they were still burning from the mountain, and the wind was blowing it to this side,” he said. We asked what they do when there are shootings and if there are shelters. Zargaryan answered, “Oh, yes. There are no shelters in the city, let alone here. We sit under this wall when they shoot, what should we do? We must deal with our fate. I ran away once and I came here. Where else should I run? I am a native of Getashen. I became a refugee in 1991.”
When asked what demands he has from the government, he answered, “The more you ask from the government, the worse it gets. All the young people are idly looking for a job. They at least want some sort of job.” When asked about what source of income they have, Avetis Zargaryan answered that the hope was that they would harvest the grass and care for their animals, but the grasslands were set on fire.
In response to the question of if he is preparing to leave the village, he said, “I have already left my village once, where else should I go? But there are already people leaving. They started leaving these past two days. What should they do? For first- and second-graders… When it gets dark, tracer ammunition is fired into the air as if it were fireworks. It can be seen with the naked eye. I also see their positions at this age. They brought their positions to the top of the mountain. In the neighboring village, the walls of the houses collapsed due to the shootings.”
Read also
Hripsime Jebejyan
