Details Emerge After Woman's Lovers Fight, Leading Landlord to Evict Her

On August 1, near the city of Shushi, Russian peacekeepers stopped Izoura Balasanyan, a former resident of Shushi, and her four children who were attempting to cross the border. The woman explained her actions by stating that she had no place to live and wished to return to her residence in Shushi. Azerbaijani and Russian border guards returned the mother and her children to the Republic of Artsakh.

It has been reported that after the 44-day war, Izoura Balasanyan settled with her four children in an apartment on the first floor of a communal building on David Bek Street in Stepanakert. She was paying 100,000 drams for that home. Izoura had approached various state bodies, requesting shelter to stay with her children.

The news agency “First Informational” spoke with Arzvik Sargsyan, the mayor of Shushi, who stated that the reality is quite different. “More than anything, this woman wanted to turn the issue into a show. She has been provided with housing. In the apartment she lived in, she was supposed to pay 100,000 drams in rent, from which 50-60 thousand drams were covered by the state, and the house was fully furnished. The landlord detailed on the internet that neighbors reported men coming and going from their home. The situation escalated to the point where this woman’s two lovers fought outside, and the landlord decided to evict her. The woman appealed to the government stating these issues and that she was being kicked out of her home. The landlord was offered a month’s time to find a solution, and a month was granted. The woman was offered another repaired house, fully prepared, in Khasak village, but she refused. She insisted on wanting to live in Stepanakert. Meanwhile, she is originally from Hadrut, came to Shushi, and had been renting there for several years,” said Arzvik Sargsyan.

He added that although the woman did not have a house in Shushi, she had been registered to be provided with an apartment as a mother of four children when apartments are distributed. Regarding the claim that the Minister of Territorial Administration of Artsakh did not meet with the woman, the mayor of Shushi said, “The Minister cannot meet with her every day. She was received once and given a full response, with conditions proposed. The house where she lived was intervened, lowering the rent from 100,000 to 80,000 drams, of which 50-60 thousand was covered by the state. She also receives 68,000 drams for each child and has received approximately 300,000 drams in assistance. She has used these supports; it’s not that she has been overlooked. For example, as the mother of four children, she received 300,000 drams from the church. Now she insists, ‘No, I only want to live in Stepanakert.’ She has turned this into a show to create some explosiveness. We all want to return to Shushi, but we don’t engage in such foolishness.”

When asked if a solution would be found for this family after the incident, he responded, “Solutions have always existed; she simply does not want them.”