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As i wrote before 15 minutes, On September 27, violent clashes broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The conflict between the countries has been fought for decades by the Armenian-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh ethnic group, which separated from Azerbaijan during a bloody war in the late 1990s.
Neither country is going to give in at this point: calls from the international community for a ceasefire and a return to long-stalled talks on the fate of the region are being ignored.
Faced with political disagreements, common people suffer, who are also hampered by bullets, houses collapse and many of them enter critical points to fight for their country.
Armine Sargsyan, a student at the Academy of Arts, who was born and raised in Vilnius, currently lives in particular thanks to her relatives in Armenia. According to her, the situation in the homeland is difficult to understand.
Personal Album Photo Album / Armine Sargsyan
– Armine, you were already born and raised in Lithuania. How did your parents get here?
– Before I was born, Armenia was in the early 1990s: a very difficult time, the aftermath of the earthquake, the first war in Arcach (Nagorno-Karabakh)… The country was left without electricity, gas and water. The latter was only administered during certain hours, but no one knew when, so up to now my grandmother has the reflex to keep a couple of baths in the tub full of water.
The mother told how her grandfather, being an educated intellectual, was forced to burn books to heat a room where the family lived. Therefore, my grandmother sent my mother to her great-grandmother in Vilnius until the situation improved. In Lithuania, the situation was more stable after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Those old men who refuse to evacuate and sit in cold basements, those young people who don’t tell their mothers the truth that they are on the front lines, they are all my relatives.
– Do you still have relatives in Armenia?
– My grandmother lives there with her cousin, as well as my husband’s entire family. In fact, I feel that now all Armenians are related to me: those old people who refuse to evacuate and sit to the murmur of sirens, the cold basements, those young people who do not tell their mothers the truth that they are in first grade. line and risk their lives, those women who collect food and products necessary for the soldiers, they are all my relatives. After the Armenian genocide led by Turkey, the feeling of family among all Armenians is an integral part of us.
Photo by Vaghinak Ghazaryan Artsakh / Akimirka from the streets of Armenia
– Can you explain in simple words what is happening in your hometown and why?
– On September 27, the Azerbaijani authorities, planning the attack in advance, at 7 pm attacked Arcach and its civil areas in the morning, thus planning to carry out a military tactical maneuver in 3 days and occupy the entire Arcach region. At the moment, 11 days later, we can say that they are not alone, they are being actively assisted by Turkey with their fighters, consultants and terrorists hired by ISIS behind them, who come to Azerbaijan to fight against the Armenian Christian people.
– Although you were not born in Armenia, I imagine that when seeing such events from the country, the heart does not hurt less, right?
– There are two inseparable parts: the homeland and the homeland. My homeland, Lithuania, and my homeland, Armenia, now feel stronger than ever. It hurts that the common man is powerless to stop political games, it hurts that all Christian brothers are silent, time is running out, people are dying, houses are collapsing and the great political actors are watching only thinking about their field battle.
In Russia, for example, Armenians who want to protest are now captured and taken into custody. Hoping that the Armenians will weaken, they will no longer be able to fight against so many enemies at once, and ask Russia for help. The Russian government really likes it when everyone is under its feet. But why is the West not helping the Armenians right now, when they have a chance to at least somehow get out of Russian influence? Where are the Christian brothers?
Where are you Christian brothers?
– Are your loved ones safe there? How do you feel? Is everything enough for them?
– My relatives are currently in Yerevan and others in Vanadzor, closer to Georgia, which is a relatively safer area so far. But nobody knows what to expect if Turkey intervenes with all its aggressive and terrorist force.
Photo by Gayane Harutyunyan / Akimirka from the streets of Armenia
– Do you talk every day?
– We speak with younger family members through safe and “unheard of” devices or voice messages. I try not to talk to my grandmother, her high blood pressure, and I can’t hide my emotions so I don’t want to stress her out.
They are mostly supportive calls, though without sentimental words. I often call and just ask me to say “everything will be fine” and hang up.
We speak to family members through safe and “unheard of” devices.
– Are your loved ones not going to the front?
– I have a brother on my father’s side, with whom we started communicating online just a year ago. I have never seen him live, but we got very close through correspondence and calls. He is also an artist, he graduated from the army a few months ago. According to Armenian law, one year after service, a person is not taken to war. But our prime minister is asking on television that everyone who has been in the army recently signed up as volunteers is deeply lacking. I began to fear that I would never see him alive again. But he assured me that he would stay in Yerevan. According to him, it is possible that the Turks will attack from the other side and they will need him there.
– How is life right now? What is the prevailing mood?
– A state of war has been declared in Armenia. Many processes have been stopped when all men go to war en masse. All the institutions that can help the front with something do it. The whole country seems to be helping our men to war. Believe me, this is not a question of Arcach, it is a question of the existence of Armenians as a nation in general. Turkey is returning to the “end” of the Armenian genocide 100 years later.
Therefore, everyone is in an incredible tension and reunion. All mothers whose children are in the war zone check the death list daily. Some house evacuated mothers with children, others raise money. The streets of the capital are full of people, students gather, collect food and other necessary items for the soldiers. People carry what they have: clothes, products, water. A grandmother brought a woolen sheet, just what she had.
A few days ago, the cousin sent a photo showing children standing on a street in Yerevan and selling their toys, thus raising money for the soldiers.
Facebook.com/Akimirka from the streets of Armenia
Girls send candy with messages of support to men. Several men are in the military police stations and are demanding that they be allowed to defend their homeland. When a man was not taken to the war zone because he had not served in the military, he tried to give a bribe just to get there. Armenians are arriving en masse from abroad, they are also at the forefront.
When a man was not taken to the war zone because he had not served in the military, he tried to give a bribe just to get there.
Photo by Tatev Hakobyan / Akimirka from the streets of Armenia
– What worries you most about today there? What are you most afraid of?
– I am very saddened that Western politicians are sending empty calls from warm and comfortable offices without doing anything real, even knowing that radical Islamists are killing our 18-19 year old men. He knows that cluster bombs are used in Stepanakert (they are officially banned) and dozens of civilians die every day.
It is appalling that predictions about “pan-tourism” may come true and that the Armenian genocide may reoccur. Perhaps the people of the West do not understand this, but believe me, now it is the fate of the Armenian people that is being decided! I’m just scared
Unfortunately, oil, gas, money, influence are now being valued more, but not people and Christian values. You want to cry, not out of fear, but out of sadness and helplessness. I feel ashamed as a European citizen.
To this day, Armenians only have one another, a brave heart that will not be broken until they are physically destroyed. So far, we are fighting with our brave hearts against the oil money, the Azerbaijani clan, the Turkish fighter jets and their terrorists.
– It is very important that as many people as possible start talking about this situation, right?
– When people know what is really going on, I am sure they will not remain silent. And politicians only move when they feel that many people are unhappy. On the other hand, the people themselves can express their support and protest.
Photo by Tatev Hakobyan / Akimirka from the streets of Armenia
– How can everyone contribute, how can they protest?
– The Internet has given people a lot of power to express their opinions, they can learn everything, have critical thinking and sanction the aggressors and supporters of terrorism in their small steps.
That is why I appeal to all those who are not indifferent to the fact that children, women, peaceful people are now being killed in cluster bombs and terrorist hands in little Armenia, and that everyone can protest and not buy items that say ‘Made in Turkey’. Otherwise, some of the money you pay goes to the use of those cluster bombs and terrorist fees. My little nation desperately needs the help of all Lithuanian residents.
– What are the possible scenarios for the outcome of these disagreements? What are your family’s predictions?
– A real solution can only come when Azerbaijan becomes at least somewhat democratic and it is possible to speak not of war, but of peace. But until now…
Our friends of the family live in Stepanakert. My husband called and offered to move to our grandparents’ house in Vanadzor while the war raged on, so he was so angry that he offered such a thing! They think they will defend themselves and they don’t need anything. You cannot imagine what the people of Arcach are like: you will never take them out of the land of your ancestors, they will never surrender like the Samogitians.
Photo by Vaghinak Ghazaryan Artsakh / Akimirka from the streets of Armenia
– Still, I imagine being born in a free country without seeing military conflicts closely, and it should be difficult for yourself to understand what your loved ones are going through right now?
– I saw my husband looking for plane tickets to Armenia, and I don’t know if I have already bought them, I’m scared to listen. That was enough to make me understand how the Armenian people feel, knowing that their loved ones are in a war zone. It is very difficult for me to translate that feeling into words. Very hard.
– And no one will stop him?
– We do not talk about all this as a family, everyone is very sensitive. But knowing it, if there is a chance, it will definitely lead.
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