On November 20, the enemy invaded the village, armed men entered our backyard and took my father and brother captive: Mariam Babayan

Mariam Babayan, daughter of the former head of the Vazgenashen community in the Martuni region of Artsakh, has made a statement on her Facebook page regarding the handover of the Vazgenashen village to Azerbaijan. She specifically noted that they were not informed that the Vazgenashen village was also to be handed over, but rather were given hope that every possible step was being taken to hold the village.

Babayan's post reads as follows:

“I direct my question to Nikol Pashinyan, Arayik Harutyunyan, Artak Beglaryan, and other officials. My inquiry pertains to the events that took place on November 20 at around 5:00 PM in the Vazgenashen community of Martuni, as we were aware that Agdam was to be handed over to Azerbaijan on November 20; however, we were not informed that the Vazgenashen village would also be handed over, and instead, we were given hope that steps were being taken to keep our village. Was it a mathematical challenge that you could not provide a clear answer to the villagers?

On the 19th, I randomly saw on Facebook that Vazgenashen was also coming under enemy control. I attempted to contact the Ombudsman of the Artsakh Republic, Artak Beglaryan, to understand whether this was official or not; he said that efforts were being made to prevent the handover of the village. I asked, 'If we are handing over Agdam tomorrow, is it possible that we would also hand over Vazgenashen? When can we get a definite answer?' He replied that in the next couple of days they would say whether we are giving it up or not. However, on the 20th at 11:00 AM, it was reported that Vazgenashen would also be given up, leaving us until midnight to remove our belongings. But what happened, happened.

At around 5:00 PM, the incident occurred. My father, Andranik Babayan, was the supposedly 'gifted' community leader. My father and younger brother were in our backyard trying to remove items. My father heard the sound of a car, went outside, and saw that our car had been stolen. He thought it was one of the villagers, but it turned out to be the enemy who had stolen it. After a while, the enemy invaded the village and armed men entered our backyard, taking my father and brother hostage until their commander, Mustafah, arrived. My father pleaded for them to release my brother at least. The commander was kind enough to release him after long negotiations, and my father was able to find common ground with the commander, returning the car to him and securing their release. Fortunately, my father's and brother's lives were saved.

My question is: where were your Russian forces, where is your so-called security, where is your vigilance? Didn’t you promise to ensure the safety of the civilian population? God forbid, if something had happened to my father and brother, you would have had to answer with your lives. You were lucky that Mustafah turned out to be a better Turkish man than the remaining Turkish Armenians; and I say 'Turkish-Armenians' because just two days before that incident, a villager from our community, Napoleon, had stabbed my father and older brother. You gave us the status of refugees as a gift… at least now stand up for the situation, do not leave the peaceful population at the whim of fate. The ugly face of war…”