Shots were heard for the last time in Hartashen village of Syunik Region, which has already become a border, during the attack on Artsakh in the last ten days of September this year. Today, Hartashen village is only 4 km away from the Azerbaijani positions. Villagers regularly hear shots fired from Azerbaijani positions.
“We were terrified of the shootings; we went down to the basements. When the people of Karabakh came to Armenia in the last days of September, the shooting stopped,” said 65-year-old Amalya Mkrtchyan, a resident of Hartashen, in an interview with “Aravot.”
Although there are no shootings these days, there is a lot of uncertainty among the villagers. Residents of the villages of Goris Region, facing severe security challenges, do not know what awaits them the next day. After the 44-day war, when the Azerbaijanis invaded the Syunik Region and deployed positions occupied strategic heights, the enemy targeted many communities in Syunik. Bardzravan, Vorotan, Shurnukh, Hartashen, Verishen, Tegh, Khoznavar, and Aravus are among the villages of the Goris Region that have serious security problems today; Azerbaijanis have occupied the agricultural lands and pastures of some villages.
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People in Hartashen are mainly engaged in animal husbandry. “Azerbaijani positions are very close to our fields; the pastures are under observation, but the villagers continue to herd their cattle; this is people’s livelihood. However, the Azerbaijanis did not occupy the heights in the Hartashen area; their positions are off the heights. Azerbaijanis are approximately 4 km away from the last house in the village,” said Hunan Mnatsakanyan, one of the village’s residents. In Hartashen, the men also take turns climbing dikes; they say they must first protect their homes.
“We live in fear; who needs to live like this?” People are in an uncertain and disturbed state. Yesterday evening, my son said that someone entered our house as if the gate had been opened. People are terrified, they are lost, they don’t know what they are doing, how they are doing it,” said Amalya Mkrtchyan. And despite the security problems, according to the villagers, almost no families are leaving the community. “People go to the city, do shopping, come to the village, live normally, they just send their children to school because they are afraid and think they will be shot. But we are in a fighting mood; our boys think we should fight and defend ourselves. They also go to the positions on duty. For example, our neighbor’s young sons go to positions,” Mrs. Amalya added.
What solution to security issues do the villagers see? People answer this question that “leaders should solve it.” “Many here blame the leaders for not doing anything. As residents of the border community, we are not given any help. We need to defend ourselves; the Turk wants a way through Syunik even now. Half of the people believe they will give way to the Turk; the other half do not. But the people are afraid that if the Turk enters Syunik, he will not leave. It has already entered; they do as they want. If the Turk enters Goris, won’t he go to Yerevan?” added our interlocutor.
Rosa HOVHANNISYAN
