Nare Ghazaryan. “We are proud people from Syunik,  Shikahogh, we want to stay in our territory, but there is no guarantee of security”

Among a number of villages in the enlarged Kapan community of Syunik, Shikahogh has become a border with Azerbaijan. Shikahogh administrative head Nare Ghazaryan says that their fellow villagers are standing on the current Armenia-Azerbaijan border, but have received a retreat order. It should be reminded that Nare Ghazaryan was elected village head four years ago at the age of 26, gaining the trust of 99.9% of the population. After the enlargement, she continued to serve as the administrative head of Shikahogh. She told about the difficult days for the village in an interview with 168.am.

We have received an order to retreat this morning, we have received an order, we have to retreat. We are returning to the borders of the USSR, and they are approaching our borders. The distance between us and the Azerbaijanis is meters, there is not a kilometer to say, at least 1 km, it does not exist either. Our demand is that at least negotiations are held in such a way that we have 1.5-2.5 km in the middle, that we are far from each other, that there is a neutral zone in the middle. The area that they say through their GPS, that is their area, according to the map of the USSR, was our territory today, we have arable lands, greenhouses, we even have a house, population, we had a big economy” Ghazaryan said.

According to the head of Shikahogh, due to the fact that the borders are so close, it will not be safe for the villagers to engage in agriculture even in the territory of their administrative district.

According to Nare Ghazaryan, at the moment the border is guarded by the villagers, there is no regular army there.

Today, the residents of Syunik closed the streets to raise these issues. The governor of Syunik Melikset Poghosyan came to meet them on the street. The head of Shikahogh also asked him when the regular army would come to guard their borders.

To our question, to whom they have applied so far to find a solution to the situation, what answer have they received, the head of Shikahogh answered that they had discussed the issue with the mayor of Kapan.

To the question whether there are appropriate infrastructures, drilled positions in the area where our border guards are standing now, the head of Shikahogh answered.

“In 2.5 months, a lot of expenses have been made, a lot of work, both physical and material, we have built appropriate places – armor, trenches, where we are at the moment, now we are told to retreat from there, that is, we are coming back to zero positions where nothing has been done, where we have to start preparing from scratch, providing everything for the boys, and those ready areas, roads opened, built, we have to give way to the Turks. Tomorrow until 17:00 they gave us time to be able to withdraw. Our boys settled on the border for 2.5 months with everything. “Now they have to deliver both weapons and ammunition in just hours,” Ghazaryan said.

The head of Shikahogh insisted that they were not going to leave their village.

“We are proud people of Syunik, we are proud people of Shikahogh, we want to stay in our territory, we do not want to give in, we will not give in, that is not the issue, but there is no guarantee of security. We will stay, we are not going to leave, if we have to die, we will die on our land, “said Nare Ghazaryan.

Full text in Armenian