The Pain, Bitterness Accompanied Me Daily to Our Basement Where We Lived and Fought: Bella Kocharian

The wife of the second President of Armenia, Robert Kocharian, Bella Kocharian, writes on her Facebook page: "February 20 is etched in my memory as a day of Armenian unity. We understood that the path we had taken would be difficult, almost impossible during the Soviet years. But we were confident and hopeful that the goals and dreams of Armenians would come true.

Life soon transitioned from high floors to basements. The war fundamentally and irreversibly changed our perceptions of life. Even in the darkest and seemingly hopeless moments, we were convinced that we could not be broken, for we were united and determined in the fight for the existence of Armenians.

I relived the horrors of the war during those fateful 44 days. The pain, the bitterness accompanied me daily to our basement where we lived and fought—a struggle for our victory. And today... Today there is pain, an insurmountable bitterness of loss, and emptiness…"