The School in Mets Shen Has Not Opened, Villagers Fear Returning to Their Village: What's the Situation in Artsakh Villages

Only 20 residents have returned to the village of Mets Shen in the Shushi region, and the school has still not opened. This was reported to NEWS.am by the village mayor, Davit Davtyan.

"The school has not opened because no children have come. The population is not returning because it is not safe; is it safe in Artsakh now? They do not want to put their children in danger. Spring work will start; perhaps some will return," said the mayor.

Regarding Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's statement that 90 percent of Shushi's population has been Azerbaijani and whether there were Azerbaijanis living in their village, Davtyan responded, "In Shushi, Azerbaijanis constituted the majority in the 1980s. As for our village, there have never been any Azerbaijanis living here. It is unclear why such statements are made. He himself does not understand what he is saying; he just speaks. We have history, we have khachkars; how did it become theirs?"

The mayor of the Hin Shen village in the Shushi region, Samvel Sargsyan, also told us that the village school has opened and some villagers have returned. "Where is safe now, to say that it is quiet in our village? The situation is normal at the moment; I cannot say how it will be in the future. Half of the villagers are here; they have returned," he said.

After the ceasefire, the mayor of the Hin Tagher village in the Hadrut region, Edik Ayvazyan, mentioned that most of the population is in Yerevan, and he is in contact with everyone. "We hope that the agreement will be annulled, and our village will be returned. That is why we are still waiting with hope,” he stated.

It is noteworthy that following the tripartite declaration of November 9, the villages of Khtsaberd and Hin Tagher came under Azerbaijani control. With respect to the villages of Mets Shen and Hin Shen, they remained under Azerbaijani blockade for several days until being unblocked through the mediation of Russian peacekeepers. Reservists who held Khtsaberd were captured; to this day, 62 of them remain in captivity.