I Wouldn’t Want to See Burnt and Blackened Walls if Everything Went in Our Favor: Khamunyan

The process of registration is currently underway to determine which residents of the communities of Berdzor, Aghavno, and Nerkin Sus wish to settle in Artsakh, and who will move to the Republic of Armenia. This was stated by Hayk Khamunyan, the Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of the Republic of Artsakh, in an interview with an Armenpress correspondent, noting that approximately 100 families live in these three communities in total.

“In the coming days, the mayors will present the relevant lists, and based on that, the issue of housing for families moving to Artsakh will be resolved. Families that move to the Republic of Armenia will receive a certificate for buying an apartment, and in the meantime, compensation for rental fees will be provided. According to preliminary data, about 25-30 percent of the population from these communities has expressed a desire to settle in Artsakh,” the minister clarified.

The head of the agency emphasized that it is already clear where those who wish to stay in Artsakh from the displaced families of Berdzor, Aghavno, and Nerkin Sus will be settled and that the state will provide them with housing.

Regarding the issues present in the evacuation process, Hayk Khamunyan stated that the relocation matters will be addressed with the assistance of various international organizations and, if necessary, the state. “At the moment, we are negotiating with our partners to help organize the process. Technical details are being discussed, such as how the funds will be transferred, etc.,” said the interlocutor, assuring that there are no problems related to relocation. He affirmed that it is possible to organize the evacuation process quickly and on time by August 25.

During this time, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports of the Republic of Artsakh is also carrying out the extraction of historical and cultural heritage.

Addressing certain discussions on social networks stating that the residents of Berdzor, Aghavno, and Nerkin Sus have been prohibited from setting their houses on fire, Minister Khamunyan first recalled the example of the Charektar community in the Shahumyan district, where residents had burned their houses, after which it was revealed that the settlement would remain under the control of Artsakh.

“I am against burning houses. Charektar has already been burned once, I will say mistakenly or purposefully, and today we are spending hundreds of millions of drams to restore this village. Only a year and a half has passed since the area of Aghanus community was given up, but today that community area is returning to be a corridor; it will come out from under Azerbaijan's control, but everything there has been looted and burned—starting from the first years of the war up to 2020. It is about the villages of Meghvadzor, Hunana, Melikashen, and Maratuk. If we had left the residential fund in that corridor, today we could have comfortably resettled there, but now there are only burnt walls and ruins. If the residential fund had been preserved, we could have comfortably settled that corridor today. Currently, there are only burnt walls and ruins there,” said Khamunyan, mentioning that Aghavno is very close to the corridor intended to connect Artsakh with the Republic of Armenia, and it is uncertain how the situation will change in a year and a half or two years.

“I wouldn’t want to see burnt and blackened walls if everything went in our favor upon returning to Aghavno. Therefore, I am strongly against anything being burned, looted, or destroyed,” emphasized the Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Artsakh.

In response to a question about the peculiarities of organizing traffic along the alternative road between Artsakh and Armenia and the new infrastructure under construction in the vicinity, the minister detailed that the new route starts from the settlement of Tas Verst, then passes through Mets Shen, Hin Shen, and reaches the administrative territory of the Aghanus community in the Kashatagh region. “The 11-kilometer stretch to Kornidzor has not yet been constructed. Until then, we will temporarily use a 4-kilometer dirt section connecting to the existing highway, right above Aghavno,” Hayk Khamunyan said, adding that the alternative road will function according to the corridor logic.

According to the minister, the stretch of road from the Republic of Armenia's border to Kornidzor is planned to be completed in about 250 days. The security of the alternative road will be implemented according to the principle of the currently operating corridor passing through Berdzor and Aghavno; a Russian peacekeeping contingent will be deployed in the 5-kilometer section of the new route. Regarding the new infrastructures that will supply Artsakh along the alternative road, particularly the high-voltage lines for communication and electricity supply, Hayk Khamunyan mentioned that the work is already underway, and they plan to complete it in a short timeframe.