Kamo Petrosyan’s renovated home (Photo: Tufenkian Foundation)

Twenty-Year-Old Wounded Soldier Kamo Petrosyan Received the Keys to His Renovated Home on September 16

MARTUNI, Artsakh—The Martuni home of 20-year-old Kamo Petrosyan, a veteran of the 2020 war against Azerbaijan, was recently renovated through a co-operation between the Tufenkian Foundation and the Armenian Missionary Association of America.

The Petrosyan home was severely damaged by Azerbaijani fire during last year’s war. Kamo, who was 19 years old at the time and a conscript in Artsakh’s Armed Forces, was serving on the frontlines when his house—home to 11 members of his family—was hit.

“Kamo is one of the many young heroes who protected his homeland, and this is our small way of honoring his service, his sacrifice. Not only was he injured but his home was also destroyed in the war. We’re proud that his house is one of the many buildings we are renovating in the region,” said Tufenkian Foundation operations director Greg Bedian.

A before and after look at the Petrosyan house (Photos: Tufenkian Foundation)

Kamo lost his leg during intense fighting on the battlefield and was later fitted with a prosthesis. The Petrosyan’s house is the seventh of a total of 16 homes across the Martuni region that the Tufenkian Foundation is renovating and restoring following the 2020 war. Kamo lost his leg during intense fighting on the battlefield and was later fitted with a prosthesis. The Petrosyan’s house is the seventh of a total of 16 homes across the Martuni region that the Tufenkian Foundation is renovating and restoring following the 2020 war.

The keys to the renovated home were handed over to the Petrosyan family during a small gathering on September 16. Representatives of the Tufenkian Foundation’s Yerevan and Stepanakert offices as well as the AMAA’s Stepanakert office were present at the home, where a reception was held to mark the occasion.

• Artsakh vet Kamo Petrosyan photographed in front of his damaged home in late April (Photo: Tufenkian Foundation)
• From left: Lusine Abrahamyan, head of social programs, AMAA Artsakh; Greg Bedian, operations director, Tufenkian Foundation; Edgar Danielyan, project manager, Tufenkian Foundation Artsakh (Photo: Tufenkian Foundation)

“The AMAA values highly its decade-long co-operation with Tufenkian Foundation. Our shared vision, objectives, and value system enables us to join forces for the betterment of the Armenian people in both Armenia and Artsakh,” AMAA Armenia representative Harout Nercessian commented about the partnership. The AMAA’s contribution to the program was made possible with funding by the France-based NGO Hope for Armenia (Espoir pour l’Arménie). “We consider this partnership to be successful and look forward to future joint endeavors,” Nercessian added.

Established in 1989 following the Spitak earthquake, Hope for Armenia is a partner organization of the AMAA that has greatly contributed to the welfare of the people of Armenia and Artsakh through various programs, including the establishment of mobile health and dental clinics, as well as the sponsorship of hundreds of orphans across Armenia.

• BEFORE: The Petrosyan home was seriously damaged by Azerbaijani shelling. (Photo: Tufenkian Foundation)
• AFTER: An exterior view of the renovated home (Photo: Tufenkian Foundation)

Kamo’s is the first of two homes that the Foundation will completely renovate in partnership with the AMAA; the renovations are part of the Tufenkian Wounded Soldier Support initiative. The second home, which belongs to Vardan Khachatryan, a veteran of the Artsakh Liberation War of the early 1990s, will be completed and handed over next month. Khachatryan was wounded during a battle for Pushkin Hill in 1993.  He lost his leg and is unable to wear a prosthetic.  During the 2020 war, he operated an excavator, performing important military engineering duties under artillery fire.

On the same day, 30-year-old Hayk Hakobyan, who was also injured during last year’s war, was given the keys to his renovated home in Martuni. The Hakobyan home was renovated following a successful crowdfunding campaign organized by the Tufenkian Foundation.