1000х90.jpg (78 KB)

Time in Yerevan: 11:07,   29 March 2024

‘I was born here, created my family here, planted a tree, will die here’: People of Artsakh stand firmly no matter what

‘I was born here, created my family here, planted a tree, will die here’: People of Artsakh stand 
firmly no matter what

STEPANAKERT, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. Entirely new districts are being built in several regions of Artsakh in a massive construction program of 7000 apartments and houses intended for those who lost their homes in the 2020 war, families of fallen troops and persons with disabilities.

The first phase of the construction project encompasses 3000 apartments and houses.

Photos by Mkhitar Khachatryan

The Deputy Minister of Urban Development of Artsakh Aram Gasparyan told ARMENPRESS that the new districts are under construction in Ivanyan, Hovsepavan, Astghashen, Noragyugh, Khnatsakh, Aygestan, Dahrav, Karmir Shuka and Martuni. A part of the new districts will be commissioned in 2022, and the remaining in 2023.

The construction is carried out with the resources of the Artsakh government budget, the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, charitable organizations and private companies.

All new apartment buildings will have basements which can be used as bomb shelters.

Furthermore, each house will have a 1200-square meter land area, in order for residents to have the opportunity of gardening.

Gasparyan says the development of housing will continue with new projects.

Construction companies from both Artsakh and Armenia are engaged in the work.

Karavan Construction foreman Murad Shahbazyan says his men are getting paid 400 to 700 thousand drams in salary every month for the work.

“We are working in Artsakh for already a year now. We are doing high-quality, fast work. All necessary conditions are in place for our workers,” Shahbazyan said.

The Head of the Regional Administration of Askeran Region Hamlet Apresyan says new districts are under construction in most of the towns in his region.

“The apartments will be given first of all to the displaced, the families of the fallen troops, as well as category-1 persons with disabilities. Regardless of the course of processes taking place around Artsakh, we are firmly standing on our land and we are not planning to go anywhere, and urban development – building new apartments – is a prerequisite of this. We have no place to leave, and we will fight until the end, until we achieve our goals,” Apresyan said.

Furthermore, Apresyan says he doesn’t imagine how it is possible to achieve peace with Azerbaijan today.

“We will never come to terms with the idea of Artsakh ever being part of Azerbaijan. This is ruled out. Our position is crystal clear and it isn’t subject to bargaining. How can you be friends and live peacefully with Azerbaijan when it is trying to destroy you, when it is advancing a policy of Armenophobia on the state-level. The latest incidents in Karaglukh proved that our people aren’t planning to leave Artsakh. All of us, together, ignoring any hardship joined forced and went to the frontline. We have nowhere else to go,” Apresyan said.

Roma Arakelyan, a 70-year-old resident of Stepanakert City, is working in the construction business for many years. He lived his entire life in Artsakh. “I am 70 years old, I lived here in Karabakh, and I will die here in Karabakh. My entire family, my two sons, my daughter, my grandchildren, all of them are here in Artsakh,” Arakelyan said.

Arakelyan’s colleague Gagik Adamyan – again from Stepanakert, has been a crane operator for more than a decade. He is a war veteran who fought in the 2016 and 2020 wars.

“My father is a crane operator too. He taught me the skills. I was born in Stepanakert, I created a family here, I am building a home, I planted a tree, and I will live here until the end of my life. Our country, our Fatherland, our home, our planted tree is here. I fought two wars, I was deployed in Mataghis in 2016 and in Jrakan in 2020, I am a D-30 gunner, I am now listed in the reserve and I am ready to go and fight at any moment,” Adamyan said.

Another worker on site is Poghos Ter-Nersesyan, a Syrian-Armenian who moved to Artsakh’s Kovsakan together with his family during the war in Syria. Kovsakan fell to Azerbaijan during the war and Ter-Nersesyan was forced to move to the town of Patara in Askeran.

“Patriotism brought me here from Syria. I am witnessing the third war in my life already, it seems like war is haunting me. Life was wonderful in Kovsakan before the war, I was working, sowing, we were living peacefully.”

“We are not ready to live with Azerbaijan, we can’t live with them, and Artsakh can’t be part of Azerbaijan. You think we would allow this? My fatherland is here, the land of my ancestors is here, so what that I was born in Syria, the blood of our nation was spilled here. We were born to lift Artsakh back on its feet, to live and develop together, how can I possibly leave these lands?” Ter-Nersesyan said.

Interview by Karen Khachatryan








youtube

AIM banner Website Ad Banner.jpg (235 KB)

All news    


Digital-Card---250x295.jpg (26 KB)

12.png (9 KB)

About agency

Address: Armenia, 22 Saryan Street, Yerevan, 0002, Armenpress
Tel.: +374 11 539818
E-mail: [email protected]