Nare Ghazaryan. “Now my strengths and abilities can be more useful”

After the last war in Artsakh, the state border of Armenia has increased by several hundred kilometers, which in turn means that the worries, problems and concerns of the residents of many communities about their own security have increased exponentially. One such community is Shikahogh in the Kapan region, which is now only a few kilometers away from the Azerbaijanis.

In an interview with WomenNet, Shikahogh administrative head Nare Ghazaryan said that even during the war, Artsakh refugees did not come to their village because they were near the border, as both the road and the lives of the people living there were endangered. And, in fact, nothing has changed in that sense, only the problems and concerns have increased.

Today, the road leading from Kapan to the village is a priority, as the Azerbaijanis are standing on the edge of it, a part of which has passed to the enemy. It is true, says Nare Ghazaryan, that the Russian border guards are standing right next to the road, but it is not a reassuring circumstance. In addition, they have a problem in the part of the village, where about 5 kilometers away is the former village of the Azerbaijanis, Kyol, and now the Azeris have settled there, which causes a problem for an Armenian villager.

The main problem they have due to the current situation is that they have 52 hectares of border area, 22 of which have been cultivated, they had to be harvested, they are wheat fields, but at the moment, unfortunately, it is targeted by the enemy, it is not clear whether they will be able to harvest or not. This is a serious problem because a lot of money has been spent. The rest is grassland, they keep livestock in the village, but they will not be able to do that either, because the pastures have become dangerous.

Nare Ghazaryan has been the head of Shikahogh community since 2016, she was elected at the age of 26, gaining the unanimous trust of the entire population of the village. After the enlargement, she was appointed administrative head, and her term of office expires in October this year. To the question whether she wants to continue, the administrative head of the community mentioned that this is not the problem, but the fact that she wants more:

“One thing is clear, I am not going to leave politics, because now my strength and abilities can be more useful, but I am still thinking in which sphere I will continue my political activity. Maybe I will continue in another sphere, so that I can be more useful both to our village and to the 4-5 neighboring villages that have the same problems, they are on the border, they are endangered. I am not afraid of problems and worries, on the contrary, I try to be more useful. ”

Ghazaryan is not a party member at the moment, but she does not rule out that she can join any political force, if she finds that it is needed, it can help her realize all the ideas she has. But at the moment she continues to live with the worries and problems of the village, the end of which, unfortunately, does not seem to be visible…

Full text in Armenian