"Is this the life you live?" But what can I do? I am also human; I also want to live; death is always there; you talk about living. Everything is a consequence of war".
My next next piece for Caucasus Watch on the refuge life of NK Armenians in Armenia.
I have 100s of messages from all over the world. From Al Jazeera, BBC, CNN… From friends…
THANK YOU & please accept my apologies that I can’t answer you yet.
I am as speechless as this stone that I took as a gift from my hometown Stepanakert last hour.
I meet Karabakh/Artsakh refugees (IDP?) everywhere in Yerevan. Confused, worried...
An old man yesterday asked me to help with his credit card.
This morning he found me and gave me this jar of honey...
"I was a beekeeper in Karabakh, God bless you..."
Visited Rose grandma to say hello… yesterday I met her in the Stepanakert church.
She displaced from her home in Stepanakert. Says can’t stay at the basements here because no enough air to breathe.
I am one of the 3.000 who marched up to Shushi today, where the representative of the Russian peacekeepers said that the road will be opened on the 26th of Dec & there will be no Azerbaijani checkpoints.
What's happening in 🇮🇱 reminds me of what happened in NK recently. Just world media didn't cover it like this 24/7.
I assure you, the sound of rocket explosions is very loud, scary...
Let no one see war.
I took this video from Stepanakert cemetery, September 19.
I wonder if there is a president of a country walking on the flag of another country?
Even if it was an unrecognized state,
Even if it no longer exists...
"Reintegration" -
#Aliyev
-style:
Step 1: subject 120K Armenians of
#NagornoKarabakh
to starvation
Step 2: conduct mil offensive and
#EthnicCleansing
of indigenous Armenian population
Step 3: dishonor national symbols and historic heritage of Artsakh Armenians around the world
Displaced ppl from Nagorno-Karabakh haven't recovered from the shock caused by the "one-day war", they face many social problems in Armenia.
One should be in this situation to understand what I'm saying. I never wish you that.
🎥 Leaving home. Took this footage on 25 Sep.
Next to the ICRC Office in Stepanakert.
No electricity in the city. Charging phone is as important as bread, especially for me. Trying to do my best to be in touch with you.
Can’t be sometimes, sorry about that.
September. Instead of students, displaced persons came to school.
This grandmother slept in this chair-made bed at night.
Good morning from Stepanakert.
Was it really supposed to end like this?
I'm ashamed of myself, of everyone…
And the worst thing is that the “cancer” is about to begin to metastasize…
This is how the Armenians of Karabakh/Artsakh leave their homes, by their "own accord".
No one leaves home of own free will, unless that home has turned into hell.
This is how ethnic cleansing looks like. You wake up early morning (if you slept of course), take a suitcase and leave your hometown.
'Last goodbye'. Stepanakert, 25 September 2023.
Our village became under Az control in Martakert region. My relatives came to Stepanakert.
Trying to take care of them. At least they had food in the village, we have nothing to offer them, except a place to sleep.
Azerbaijan is telling the truth that they only shot at military positions. Anyway, I myself saw several shellings in the NK’s capital city Spepagakert. I guess they “missed” this time.
Footage I took in Stepanakert. 19 September.
I can't see anymore...
THE SITUATION IS REALLY CRITICAL
Two women leave the bakery crying, "Disgusting, unbearable life... We've been standing here since five in the morning." Empty handed...
Everyone talking about bread in the streets.
Day/night people are coming to ICRC office to change phones.
I’m also here. Colleagues, friends sorry I can’t reply to your messages sometimes. Sorry about that. Thank you everyone for warm words. IDK how to thank you all.
When I took this photo (don't know why Tatul (right) took the copyright back to his Center), I had no idea who Anthony is, and I had no idea that there would come a day when it wouldn't be impossible to buy a loaf of bread here in NK/Artsakh.
It’s calm in Stepanakert now, kids came out from the basement.
The sounds of shelling ring in my ears still.
People walking with their heavy bags across the streets in Stepanakert.
“This is not life we’re living “. — says my neighbor.
This neighborhood (Krkzhan) in Stepanakert was completely empty.
I’ve been there yesterday. A while ago peacekeeper’s armored vehicle passed by.
Residents of these houses found refuge in the center of the city.
A lady sings in Azerbaijani near the empty houses of Stepanakert.
My sister, nephews worked hard for years to get an apartment in this neighbourhood. They all had to leave their homes. So, sing girl, sing!
Stepanakert. Karabakh/Artsakh's capital city. 🇦🇿 covered ArtsakhBank, no one enjoys coffee at the Renaissance cafe, municipality doesn't remove snow, there are no children going to school, Azerbaijani driver listens to music in a dead city, in my city.
"Sorry, we cannot sell more than a pill. Others should be able to buy too", says pharmacist in Stepanakert.
I was buying a simple medicine for a headache that cost a penny.
Imagine the situation of the most necessary medicine in
#NagornoKarabakh
.
Goris: I stood on the street for five minutes, three cars stopped from NK/Artsakh with the whole family in it.
"Where do I register to provide accommodation?"
I HAVE NO IDEA, I am just like you.
Very symbolic. Just as the Sarsang reservoir was emptied, so was the entire Karabakh (of Armenians).
Looking through my archives.
🎥 Sarsang "water" reservoir.
Dear foreign journalists, I am sorry that I'm not always able to reply to your emails. Frankly said, I don't know whether to look for food/bread/medicine or focus on work. Please accept my apologies.
1/ Our teams continue their search for people who were left behind, including the elderly, sick and disabled.
Over the past days, during our visits we distributed food and hygiene parcels. We also managed to restore family links for three people with their loved ones in Armenia.
Airtsakh TV no longer talks about the Lachin Corridor.
Doesn't talk about anything, just a blue screen...
Kind of mysterious silence...
Maybe the silence would be better for the Karabakh Armenians at the moment.
In the hotel booked by a Belgian friend in Yerevan. Thank You.
I need medicine for a pregnant woman
I need wood
I need a wood stove
I need a gas rechargeable cylinder
I need milk
I need a rechargeable bulb
I need a liter of petrol
I need Huggies
I need Nutella for my toddler
I need antipyretic syrup
Endless...
#NagornoKarabakh
/
#Artsakh
Aftermath.
People still in the basements in Stepanakert.
No ⚡️ in the city. They cook outside & eat at the basement.
Talking about casualties, about possible evacuation, about new realities…
The cross of the Stepanakert Church has been removed. Priest Nerses Garegin Asryan published a photo.
During the Soviet years, almost all Christian churches were destroyed in Nagorno-Karabakh.
C'est l'honneur du Conseil de Paris de voter à l'unanimité la citoyenneté d'honneur de la Ville de Paris aux Arméniens du Haut-Karabagh, victimes d'épuration ethnique.
Paris protègera toujours les Arméniens menacés par le processus génocidaire mené par l'Azerbaïdjan.
Let me translate what Aliyev is saying.
"Dear Karabakh Armenians, I stole your property, apartments and converted it dorm rooms for students. Please don't tell them about that so they can sleep peacefully there at night. Thank you very much!"
Karabakh’s capital city became a big refugee camp…
Problem is that the basements are home for every one. No electricity, wooden stoves are here, that’s why people stay in basements.
The situation in Stepanakert is catastrophic. The city is flooded with refugees, many of whom have nowhere to shelter and are compelled to sleep on the streets. Electricity and gas are nonexistent, forcing residents to resort to making fires in the streets for warmth and cooking.
Today Artsakh/Karabakh Armenians turned to the Red Cross (in Yerevan) for help in reburying their relatives.
Many believe that Azerbaijanis will destroy the military memorials in NK.
I’ve been in Stepanakert Memorial after the one-day war in September.
"Arrived tonight in Armenia, at the entrance of the Lachin corridor: this only way into
#NagornoKarabakh
has been blocked here by Azerbaijan for two months now." François-Xavier Bellamy, Député au Parlement européen
If the Aghdam road is open (to NK/Artsakh) but the Lachin Corridor remains close, we are still in a cage like zoo animals & they just decided to feed us. Locals