Residents Destroy Their Homes and Demolish the School Building to Prevent Azerbaijanis from Enjoying Them: Mkhitar Nersisyan

There were 12 families in Nerkin Sus, of which only one remains in the village, a single woman who will also leave the village on August 25. Mkhitar Nersisyan, the village mayor of Nerkin Sus, stated this in an interview with Tert.am.

“The residents have mostly relocated to Armenia. One resident expressed a desire to remain in Artsakh, and we are collaborating with the authorities in Artsakh to accommodate her there. Those displaced residents who had lived here until August 25 will be provided with a certificate for purchasing an apartment,” the mayor said.

In response to a question from the media about whether there had been any discussions regarding restrictions on burning their homes or being deprived of assistance, Mkhitar Nersisyan noted that there were none. “Before leaving, the residents turned their own homes to rubble, they also demolished the school building to prevent Azerbaijanis from coming and enjoying them. There were no house burners; they only demolished,” he explained.

“The residents are very distressed, upset, and uncertain, thinking about how and where they will live. It’s difficult to build a home from scratch. After the war, we never thought that under these conditions the village would be handed over to Azerbaijan; we were thinking that we would repopulate and revitalize it, and that the residents would live their normal lives. We thought there would be delineation and demarcation; I had gone out and looked at those areas, there was nothing, no working people,” Nersisyan added.

He also mentioned that before leaving, the residents took the bodies of their deceased relatives with them. “Seven graves have been transferred from Nerkin Sus to Armenia; they have been exhumed and reburied in Armenia. There were also khachkars and monuments in the village; all have been removed from the village. For 30 years, we have held this land; now we are leaving, it is difficult,” said Mkhitar Nersisyan, the mayor of Nerkin Sus.

It should be noted that the residents of the Agavno, Berdzor, and Nerkin Sus settlements in the Kashatagh region must leave their residences by August 25. After the alternative road is put into operation, peacekeepers will leave the area, and the villages will be handed over to Azerbaijan.