Two Houses in Shurnukh Under Enemy Control Transformed into a Barracks, Administrative Leader Says

168.am reports: “After the 44-day war in Artsakh in 2020 and the subsequent handover of favorable positions in Syunik to the enemy, the village of Shurnukh in Syunik was divided into two parts. One part of the village, consisting of 13 houses, came under enemy control, which began to establish positions in that area. Thirteen households from Shurnukh, whose homes fell under enemy control, found themselves on the street. The Armenian government announced that houses would be built for these residents. Some time later, many of those families temporarily settled in the homes of their relatives, while others rented houses.

Four years after the war, the government finally constructed 13 new homes in Shurnukh, which is under Armenian control. On June 17 of this year, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited Shurnukh and handed keys to the newly built homes to residents who had lost their houses. When the promised 13 houses were just beginning construction, residents raised concerns about the neighborhood's drinking water issue.

Earlier, Grigor Darbinyan, the administrative head of Shurnukh, stated in an interview with 168.am, “We have informed the relevant authorities about the water issue; a 40 km water pipeline needs to be laid. In the summer, residents will face problems because the water supply will decrease. I cannot say whether the pipeline will be ready by summer. We need to bring water from 40 km away, which will also supply Bardzravan, not just Shurnukh. Currently, water is being brought from 3 km away, but it is not enough.”

In a recent discussion with 168.am, Darbinyan again addressed the water issue but also responded to whether residents are already living in the new houses. “At the moment, 5 residents are living in the new houses. Those who have been renting since 2020 are currently cultivating crops on the land adjacent to those houses. They are currently working on those crops and plan to return and live in the new houses in the autumn after the harvest. I have been told they will come back by the end of September. People are gradually bringing their belongings to the house. Thank God, this year has seen a lot of rain. We have always acknowledged that there is a water issue, but due to the rains this year, we have not felt the lack of water as much; if the next two months are also rainy, we will have no issue, but if it doesn’t rain, we certainly will. But we cannot say it will be rainy every year,” concluded Grigor Darbinyan.

According to him, representatives from the UN Food Organization visited the village yesterday and provided drop irrigation equipment and tubes to the 13 residents who lost their homes, so they can cultivate their land.

“As for our 13 houses that fell under Azerbaijani control, the enemy has transformed two of them into a barracks, while the rest have been left unchanged; what will happen to them later remains uncertain,” noted the administrative head of Shurnukh.

When asked whether Azerbaijani military personnel could bring their families and settle in those houses, our interlocutor did not consider it realistic. “Look at how many kilometers they have cut across to come here; after all this, would they come to live near us? That won’t happen. They are military personnel who come to hold positions and then leave; they certainly won’t bring their families here. When the village was divided into two parts, no family left Shurnukh. Some of our fields remain below the road; we cannot take our livestock to graze there, which is one of our concerns. We also struggle to transport hay from the fields to the village because portions of the roads are very close to them. But what can we do; we can no longer change anything. Our hopes are in God, and we believe things will work out; we will wait and see,” concluded our correspondent.