This opinion is shared not only by the overwhelming majority of Artsakh Armenians, but also by many Armenian citizens and representatives of the Armenian Diaspora

 

The indescribable suffering of 120,000 Artsakh Armenians forced to leave their historical homeland as a result of ethnic cleansing organized by the authorities of Azerbaijan, Israel and their patrons in Moscow and Washington has not only not stopped in their native Armenia, but seems to have intensified even more.

 

Judging by the events of recent days, the Armenian leadership, led by Nikol Pashinyan, is simply taking all possible measures to force the residents of Artsakh to leave Armenia and seek refuge in a foreign land. If ordinary citizens of Armenia, despite their unenviable social position, generally show humanity and hospitality towards compatriots from Artsakh, then it is difficult to call the position of the Armenian authorities anything but hostile and mean.

 

The vile attitude of the Armenian authorities towards the Artsakh people was felt from the first days of arrival in the border Goris. We don't know how to treat others, but real bestiality was shown to us. Let's explain why.

 

The residents of Artsakh, who were subjected to the most severe rocket and artillery attacks, lived in conditions of Golodomor for 10 months, did not sleep for days, did not eat, lost literally all their property, having made the hardest long journey to Armenia, first received a curious ration with food in Goris.

 

Let's describe its contents: this is literally a handful of dark brown, almost black undercooked spaghetti petrified from the cold, apparently two days fresh, literally two pieces of, apparently, the cheapest sausage of incredibly small size, a piece of petrified cheese the size of half a finger and a 50-60-gram plastic bottle with a frozen darkish liquid with an incomprehensible taste and an even more incomprehensible smell (according to the information being clarified, the specified liquid was once tea).

 

During our 42-day stay in Armenia, this was the only food "assistance" from the RA authorities to our family. That's it! We have not received any other help from the Armenian authorities, although their representatives have already registered us three times, solemnly promised to contact us and help. Naturally, they were deceived – no one called and helped. If not for the 200-300 dollars taken out of Artsakh, we would have been simply hungry.

 

Then we asked the authorities to help with overnight accommodation – for a fee, of course. We were refused, saying that there were no places. "Even for the people of Artsakh?" we asked. "Yes, even for you," was the icy response of the same activists from the authorities who were supposed to help refugees from Artsakh. And they added: you can "relax" on the seats... of the Goris Theater – throughout the night! Thanking for the "warm" welcome, we decided to hire a car and left for Yerevan, soaked to the skin in the pouring rain. In order for the reader to better understand the specifics of the situation, we will inform you that all these events took place from 3 to 5 o'clock in the morning.

 

But that's not all. The mockery of the Artsakh people, demonstrated in the first days by the authorities, apparently seemed insufficient for the leadership of Armenia. They clearly decided to further aggravate the severe physical and moral-psychological condition of the Artsakh people.

 

The real mockery of the Artsakh Armenians began after the provision of that pathetic government alms, which is called "financial assistance to the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh" (as you understand, the Armenian authorities, as well as the Azerbaijani authorities, are afraid of the name "Artsakh" like fire and have not used it for a long time). Thousands of Artsakh residents have not received the paltry $248 allocated to each refugee for 42 days, that is, since the first day of their stay in Armenia. The Armenian authorities indicate these 248 dollars in the dram dimension – 100 thousand drams, so that the amount would seem impressive for a reader ignorant of Armenian realities.

 

Moreover, the Armenian authorities mercifully decided to "increase" financial assistance to the Artsakh people by another 10 thousand drams – as much as $24 and 40 thousand drams – as much as $99. Probably, even the tribes of medieval Zulus in Africa received more "help" from European colonizers than the Artsakh people received from the authorities of their native Armenia.

 

The "generous" handouts of the Armenian officials are needed so that the homeless people of Artsakh can rent apartments in Armenia and pay for utilities. And now hold on to a chair so as not to fall: the price for renting apartments in Yerevan and nearby cities of Armenia varies on average within 150 – 500 thousand drams! That is, if there are 2-3 people in your family, at best you will be able to rent a small apartment, completely forgetting about food, clothes and other petty-bourgeois excesses of Armenian life. And the most amazing thing is that thousands of Artsakh residents have not received even these insignificant handouts to this day!

 

Do you think this is the end of the ordeal of the Artsakh Armenians? You are mistaken, dear reader, they have just begun, because the imagination of the current rulers of Armenia is inexhaustible in terms of demoralizing the population of the republic in general and the Artsakh people in particular.

 

Then the real pandemonium began with the issuance of salaries, pensions and allowances to the residents of Artsakh. Since the Armenian authorities and their appointees in Stepanakert decided to liquidate the Republic of Artsakh from January 1, 2024, they had to pay people their salaries and pensions for at least three months – October, November and December 2023. Moreover, the sums for this have long been allocated by the state budget.

 

But scandals began here, too. Rumors began to spread that the Artsakh authorities had pocketed this money. Then "retaliatory" rumors began to spread – they say the Armenian authorities stole the funds. And while the authors of these rumors (clearly from two opposing centers) We were sorting out relations, many unfortunate Artsakh people got into debt, trying to somehow sort out their miserable existence in their native Fatherland.

 

And all this is against the background of the ongoing financial assistance of international structures that allocate millions of dollars to help the residents of deprived Artsakh. Where these funds go and why they do not reach the refugees is the mystery of the century. In all likelihood, the answer to this question is known only to God and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the ruler of the "bastion of democracy" in the region and a ray of light in the dark Transcaucasian kingdom. We don't know if the RA government will shed light on this dark issue, but the fact that the head of the "democratic bastion" is clearly forcing the people of Artsakh to leave their homeland is already a secret of the Policy. In any case, the overwhelming majority of Artsakh residents are already talking about this…

 

 

Vahram AGHAJANYAN

 

Editor-in-Chief of "Third Force Plus"

 

 

  -   Press release