Robert Kocharyan’s activity in the memory of his neighbors in Stepanakert
09.05.2008 16:06
Gita Elibekyan
"Radiolur"
When the Artsakhi war started, many got involved in it. Robert
Kocharyan, the second President of the Republic of Armenia, rarely
stayed home. He was one of the leaders of the Artsakhi Movement, one of
the first volunteers of the liberation war. His neighbor, Mrs. Elmira,
67, remembers: `He was driving around the city in a `Zaporozhec’ to see
what was happening. He was organizing our movement, while many young
people had fled.’
Elmira Karapetyan worked at the same agro-chemical laboratory with Emma
Kocharyan, where they both received apartments in a two-storey building
in Stepanakert: `We were good neighbors,’ Mrs. Elmira says. `We gave
advices to each other, we were dining and drinking coffee together.
Mrs., Elmira says that they rarely saw Robert Kocharyan after the war
started, but every time they saw him, they would get convinced we would
win. `Every time we saw Robert Kocharyan, he would convince with a
smile peculiar to him that everything was going to be all right, that
we would win, that our struggle was just. He would inspire us, and we
would believe.’
Mrs. Elmira recalls also that in the basement Kocharyan’s wife and
mother were also giving hope to the neighbors. `On New Year day, when
the enemy was bombarding, Bella was decorating a New Year tree. She was
always saying everything would be all right, we would once decorate the
New Year tree at home, not in the basement. Their hopes really came
true: today we decorate the New Year tree in our homes.’
Mrs. Elmir says many were convincing Bella Kocharyan to leave the city
with her children, but she refused. All the neighbors lived in
basements. The small windows of the basements were closed with bags of
sand. It was dark. When the enemy was attacking from Shoushi, they
moved to Kocharyans’ basement. When the attacks came from Aghdam, they
all would move to Karapetyans’ basement.
Today Mrs. Elmira lives in the same apartment. The building has been
reconstructed: the war had left traces everywhere. Mrs. Elmira and her
family live on the ground floor, the first floor belongs to Kocharyan
family. According to the neighbor, they often come to Stepanakert. They
entrust the keys to Mrs. Elmira. From time to time she airs the
apartment and every time members of the ex-President visit Stepanakert,
they meet Mrs. Elmira.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
