No Drinking Water in Nerkin Hand, Residents Going to Kapan for Burials

Residents of the border village of Nerkin Hand continue to be troubled by ongoing issues. The village has no drinking water, as was the case before, and community sources are under enemy fire. Residents are forced to take water from the river and drink from distant springs.

In talks with the Factinfo website, the villagers expressed that the enemy controls almost the entire area of the border village from three sides. They reported that gunfire has not ceased during these days, and safe movement has become severely restricted.

“There could be gunfire from position to position. It's very close here. They shoot over there, and here a bullet could hit the roofs. That fear is enough. The people live in that atmosphere of fear. There is no more free life. The Turks are standing over our heads; that’s how we live. Only the inside of the settlement is ours. The rest of the fields and meadows are completely controlled. If a farmer does not keep livestock, they cannot cultivate the land; this is a very big problem. We only cultivate the backyard. Each person has sown a couple of furrows; they take care of their household, managing to survive somehow,” said one resident.

According to a resident of Nerkin Hand, currently, only two heads of large cattle remain in the entire border village, down from more than 100 cows previously. A few families also keep pigs.

As for the school, it currently has only three students. One child is in elementary school, while the other two are in higher grades. The birth rate in the village is also low. Movement among people is mainly recorded in the summer season when young people return to the community from educational institutions. However, the residents have no intention of leaving the village.

In conversations with the website, the residents reported that recently they have had to take the bodies of two villagers for burial in Kapan.