Residents of Artsakh's Aghavno village in Berdzor (Lachin) have been told to evacuate by August 25

Earlier this month residents of Aghavno and its surrounding villages in Artsakh’s Berdzor (Lachin) region were given until August 25 to leave their homes in preparation for the handover of the area to Azerbaijan ahead of the timeline envisioned by the November 9 agreement.

However, days before the deadline, local residents are describing the region as a virtual ghost town, with many residents having left their homes.
“There was no electricity. All connections were cut off. VivaCell [the local mobile provider] was turned off, the internet was turned off. There was no water.” This is how Aghavno resident Gayane Isakhanyan described the situation in her village to Azatutyun.am’s Armenian Service as she and her husband gathered their belongings in preparation of leaving their village.

“Yes, it is sat that we have to leave, but what we do,” a resigned Isakhanyan added.

On Saturday, Gayane Isakhanyan, a teacher at the Aghavno school, left the village with his family, then they attempted to go back to enjoy a few more days at the place they called home.

“But they already told us that anyone who has left is not allowed to enter the village,” Isakhanyan told Azatutyun.am.

She said that for the 177 residents of Aghavno a question still remained unanswered: How did the August 25 deadline get changed? Now only a few men remain in the village. She said they were given 250,000 drams (a little over $600) to leave as soon as possible.

The families were evacuated under the watchful eye of Russian peacekeepers, police and emergency workers to ensure that no one could set the house on fire, although a few managed to circumvent the ban.

“The streets are guarded by two, three, four people. Fire trucks are standing by on the streets,” Isakhanyan added.

She and her family, including her three children, are now temporarily living at a relative’s house in the Tegh village in Armenia’s Syunik Province.

Isakhanyan worries that she will not be able to enroll her children in a proper school.

She said that the vouchers promised to them to purchase new residences have been delayed.

“Even Hayk Khanumyan [Artsakh’s Territorial Administration minister] promised us that we will have the certificates for our apartment by the 25th of the month. Now I keep calling and they say we don’t know when it will happen, how it will happen,” she said.

Azatutyun.am was informed by Artsakh’s Ministry of Territorial Administration that it may not be possible to disburse the vouchers by August 25, but said that all residents of Berdzor and Aghavno will receive those certificates by month’s end.

Both Aghavno and Berdzor are all but empty, Azatutyun.am reported. The last of the monuments there—a stature of a freedom fighter—was removed from the city’s Peace Square. During the last weeks, 47 cultural, religious and historic monuments were moved from Berdzor.

As the deadline looms, the residents will have three days to evacuate the area.