MRS. AZNIV WILL NOT GO ANYWHERE

A1+
[01:21 pm] 10 February, 2009

72-year old pensioner Azniv’s neighbors visit her room often and
always talk about the past. They all currently reside in the former
student hostel hostel in Charbakh. The guard of the hostel Mrs. Gayane
accompanied us to the 4th floor showing us the rooms of pensioners
from Baku.

Mrs. Azniv lives in the best equipped room on the floor. She invited
us and showed the photos of her two sons and two grandchildren who
are in Russia. Then she told us that her husband died in 2004 and his
co-workers helped her remodel her room. She said that her children
help from Russia.

Mrs. Azniv barely survived the massacres in Baku.

"My lezgi neighbor came and warned me that there were going to be
massacres. But it is not easy to let go of what you have. I thought
they wouldn’t do anything, but in the end…" Azniv said crying and
wasn’t able to go on. Then she went on to tell us how the Azeri from
Armenia invaded their house, beat and robbed them.

"My Russian acquaintances hid me for 15 days. At the time, chairs
and other items were flying out of windows to the major streets of
Baku. They used to light bonfires at nights and there were burnt
bodies everywhere," said Azniv adding that many people died on the
boats and only half of the people that came by boat remained alive.

"The Armenian community of Krasnadovsk welcomed us and accompanied
us to the airport to fly to Yerevan. I couldn’t believe that I was
coming to Armenia. It was there where I decided to bow down and kiss
the land because it is at that moment when you feel what the homeland
is," said Mrs. Azniv who doesn’t want to live anywhere else after
the events. Mrs. Azniv said that she had visited her sons in Russia,
but did not wish to stay.

She watches television and reads the Bible in her room. She offered
us some things to eat and asked when we would come back.

"My doors are always open. I will not go anywhere," she said.