“I was born in Martouni, live in Martouni, and will die here. I will leave only in one case — if it falls under Turkish control.” Vahe Soghomonyan, a singer from Martouni, Artsakh.
“The Armenians from Artsakh never blamed Armenians from Armenia, they could only ever blame Pashinyan [prime minister of Armenia]. The very first day he got elected, we had a feeling he was going to sell Artsakh out. And since the day of the agreement [according to which Armenia gave up 75% of territory to Azerbaijan] we are shadows of our former selves. No matter, there is still hope for getting our lands back.” Gohar Mardiyan from Khachmach village of Artsakh.
“People from Armenia proper still find a way to defend him [prime minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan], even after everything that happened. One even said, “I’ll rather have my son die than Qocharyan come back.” Here’s how I see it: There are shepherds with whom you can entrust 500 sheep and with time he’ll bring back 1000. Then there’s a shepherd that keeps losing the sheep, letting the wolves get them and always makes up some excuse. Why shouldn’t we say then that the shepherd is on the side of wolves?” Valerk Gevorgyan, an internally displaced person to Stepanakert from Drakhtik village of Hadrut region of Artsakh.
“After the war we came back to see the Artsakh flag torn into pieces, the Armenian flag intact. I’ll never forgive this new government, not in a million years. They couldn’t understand that Artsakh is the foundation of Armenia, and Yerevan is the top floor.” Tsoghik Musayelyan, the teacher of Computer Science at the Khachmach village school of Artsakh.
“I hope we’ll have the wisdom and strength to unite. Azerbaijan has been preparing for thirty years. We don’t need that much time to restore the army. We must defend our land, keep our country safe. I read that 80,000 Armenians have emigrated in recent months, but the truth is, wherever you go in the world, you’re a newcomer, a foreigner. It is on our land that we are strong.” Serob Mnacakanyan, the principal of the school in Khachmach village of Artsakh.
“In the BBC report an Azerbaijani kid says, “Mom, I wanna grow up and become a soldier to kill off Armenians.” So, how can there be peace? No, it’s only a matter of time. We will return all Armenian lands. Everyone in Karabakh agrees. If our army was what it was in 2016, we would advance. This was not a war, it was just an endless retreat. Under the circumstances, it’s surprising that we retained these lands.” Manvel Mardiyan from Khachmach village of Artsakh, participant of the 2016 and 2020 Artsakh wars. He emigrated from Baku to Artsakh in the late 80s and has 5 children.