Artsakh War Vets: `There are more historic lands to regain’

[ 2010/05/07 | 13:47 ]
Nagorno Karabakh
Arman Gharibyan

`What was the most moving thing for me was when the people of
Stepanakert came out of the basements after the liberation of Shushi.
When the freedom fighters came down to Stepanakert the people welcomed
them in the street with flowers. It was a great relief and a joyous
occasion,’ recounts Aida Serobyan, who participated in the Artsakh
War.

Mrs. Serobyan says that while the war was raging, they even lost count
of the days and years. `Only one thing interested us; to go forward
and liberate the land,’ she stated at the `Henaran’ press club.

`Immediately after hearing that Artsakh needed medical workers, the
day after in fact, I went to the Ministry of Health instead of going
to my job at the clinic and told them to send me to Artsakh. I went
and remained till the end of the war,’ she said.

She told the story of a 12 year-old boy who had lost his father in the
war. The boy came to the front and demanded his father’s gun so that
he too could fight for the liberation of the homeland.

Mrs. Serobyan lamented the fact that the spirit of the 1990’s was in
short supply today.

Igor Sargsyan, another war vet at the press conference, said that this
could be explained by a change in the value system.

`But I do not believe that this change will be able to strangle the
system bequeathed us through the centuries. There must be no talk of
giving back lands. If a person is ready to return an inch, he just
might give it all back. Just know that we will never be defeated. The
war is not over; it can begin again at any moment. We will not give
back any piece of land. In fact, there are still historic lands to be
regained,’ said Mr. Sargsyan.