“Were you very scared during the war?” I asked the children of Khnatsakh, interrupting the children’s happy conversation. “No,” cried the children, who had finished their lessons and were going home. “Are you studying well, what did you get?”
Before they answer, I ask again, what were you doing during the war? “We were crying,” said one of the children. “No, I did not cry, I was playing,” says the other.
Read also
At the place where I was talking to the children, the distance to the Azerbaijani position was about 100 meters. As a result of the 44-day war, after the change of borders, the Khnatsakh school was also targeted by the enemy. One of the “sights” in Khnatsakh today is the “Turkish” position. The people of Khnatsakh ask people entering the village if they want to see the “Turkish” positions.
“There is no future,” said one of Khnatsakh’s elders, expressing concern that young people were leaving their home village after the livestock population was reduced. It is said that several families have already left the village.
“If we stay, what would we do?” says 22-year-old Galust. The Khnatsakh residents were also concerned about the soldiers guarding their border. They said that the state should improve the housing conditions so that the soldiers do not catch a cold and so that they are safe as the distance between the positions with the Azerbaijanis is only a few meters.
“It would be good for the state to pay a little attention to our villages and improve our moods. It should bring 5-6 million dollars to build this village. They bring 100 thousand and give money, what is that? A citizen of Yerevan drinks a cup of coffee for 100 thousand.
The villagers are also mocked. Let the citizens sleep peacefully. Look, villagers are looking at the border again,” said Surik Andryan, a resident of Khnatsakh. Surik’s brother was killed in the first Artsakh war. He said that even during those difficult years, he did not leave the village. He believed that generations would be left with a homeland.
Now, he says that the “Turk” has come and stood on his head. “We are afraid to make any sound. If there is a small noise, the children jump up. They think the Turks are shooting,” said Surik.
“Well, we wish we could be in the place of everyone who dies,” an older resident of Khnatsakh continued as the residents gathered in the middle of the village. Another joked that they forgot to drink vodka so that they would not suddenly get “confused” and find themselves in the Azeris’ positions. It can be said that Khnatsakh is fully surrounded. The village is surrounded by 5-6 Azerbaijani positions.
Khnatsakh is about 9 kilometers away from the regional center of Goris. In 2016, the village was expanded, merging with the Tegh community of Syunik region. One of the closest houses to the positions is the house of the head of Khnatsakh administrative district. Seyran Mirzoyan, who has been leading the village for only a few months, said that sitting on the balcony, the Azerbaijanis are watching everything. “Our house is not even 200 meters from their position.”
The border with Azerbaijan is about 25 kilometers long. Both the head of the administrative district and the residents find it very difficult to live in these conditions, and there should be a safety zone. According to them, children are not allowed out when it gets dark. They too can not walk around the village when it gets late. It is said that there are villagers whose gardens are uncultivated because they are very close to the Azerbaijani positions. Today, 158 families live in Khnatsakh with about 820 inhabitants. As a border settlement, Khnatsakh is also included in the list of villages with privileges. Twenty families resettled in Khnatsakh from Artsakh. They settled in vacant houses in the village.
Lusine BUDAGHYAN
