More than 24 Families in Vorotan and Karahunj Have Lost Their Homes and Gardens; 40 People in Shurnukh Lack Livelihoods

The number of citizens affected by the border demarcation conducted in Vorotan, Shurnukh, and Karahunj is being verified. Approximately 40 individuals in Shurnukh have been forced to leave their homes. Additionally, 12 summer houses from Vorotan have transferred to Azerbaijan, leading many citizens there to lose their gardens.

More than 12 houses and several gardens have also been lost in Karahunj. The Goris community administration is assessing the property lost by dozens of citizens due to the border demarcation. Menua Hovsepyan, the deputy mayor of Goris, stated in an interview with Faktinfo that they are collecting privatization certificates from residents and conducting mapping.

The community is attempting to address the issues faced by residents who have been deprived of their homes and livelihoods within its capabilities. Under the mayor's order, construction will be carried out in the border villages to build homes for those who have lost their houses, aiming to keep the border villages active.

As Hovsepyan noted, more agricultural changes will be implemented, and assistance will also be provided regarding livestock, with programs currently being developed. "We must do everything possible to somehow organize people's livelihoods because the situation is not favorable," Hovsepyan stated.

At this time, the community is trying to compensate for the damages suffered by residents as much as possible, with the mayor also personally assisting people with his own funds, although they have not yet received a response from the government.

Many residents, having lost both their homes and small gardens, have lost their only source of income. "One of the residents who lost his home in Vorotan visited the community hall today. His house was his means of livelihood, and now he is struggling to pay his child's tuition fees. Naturally, we will do everything to resolve those issues, because their problems are essentially the problems of the Goris community hall," Hovsepyan said.

However, challenges in Goris do not end here. There has been a significant influx of individuals from Artsakh during the war, and many still reside in Goris, having also lost their homes. The community administration assures that the number of those displaced from Artsakh is considerable.

"We are trying to address everyone's problems collectively. A person or family displaced from Shushi or Hadrut faces the same issues as someone who lost their home in Vorotan," the deputy mayor added, stating that Goris would not accept this status quo.

"Living like this is not sustainable; it cannot continue for long. This issue must receive a logical resolution, and there are many possibilities. We hope and will do everything to resolve the problem in a correct and civilized manner because we cannot coexist on the same street with the Turks—this is excluded. We are the rightful owners and rulers of what we have and our ancestral heritage," Hovsepyan noted. He also mentioned that a competition for residential construction has already been announced in Goris, as they do not want to see villages left abandoned.