Ararat Aghabekyan, a resident of the Shurnukh community in Syunik Province, who burned his house on the evening of 4 January, now lives with his family — his wife and two minor children — in an old and damp house in the same village, but has said that housing does not concern him. The resident of Shurnukh stated that he continues to demand his land, which was handed over to Azerbaijan on 5 January.
“Housing doesn’t interest me that much; I can stay in a ‘meshok’ or a ‘tomik’ too. What I need is my land, so that I can stand on my feet. I am not whining about a house — I will build a house, I will put stone upon stone. I am a man who demands land, not a man who demands a house. It is with this same mentality that I am raising my children,” Ararat recounted.
He said that he is still in Shurnukh: “People come to us, they are solving the electricity issue, they are expressing support to the border guards. A little while ago, people had also come from the community administration.”
Asked what the situation in the community has been like in recent days, the resident replied: “Nothing has calmed down; a free thing comes with a trap. Come and live with my family and be a witness to how much the situation has calmed down. The width of that road in our village is only 6 metres; 6 metres separate us from the enemy, and the enemy is capable of the worst thing. You tell your children to behave properly, to be honourable, and you go and look out the window at your burned house, at everything you had built, which you burned.”
He recounted that his brother is currently staying in the village administration building: “Soon the spring work will begin; we keep the livestock in the barn every other day. We still hope that we will return home.”
