Mass exodus from Martakert District looks like in 1992, local residents report

The authorities of the Martakert District help residents of the villages, who are to be evacuated by the end of the day, to transport their belongings, but there are not enough vehicles for everyone. In 1992, most of the local residents had to leave their native villages, which came under the control of Azerbaijan.

Almost 2000 villagers were given only a day to prepare their belongings for leaving. Their villages will be transferred to Azerbaijan, since they belonged to the Agdam District according to the previous administrative division.

"Some people set fire to their houses so that no one will get them after the tenants leave ... The whole picture terrifies. In the 1990s, residents of the Maraga village of the Martakert District settled in the village, where the massacre of Armenians took place in 1992," Anna Vanushyan from the village of Nor Maraga told the "Caucasian Knot".

Until recently, the villagers were not aware that they would have to leave their homes, confirms Lusine Gabrielyan, a resident of the village.

"We were sure that the village belongs to the Martakert District of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), and that it will remain on the Armenian side," the woman noted.

"These territories were artificially torn away from Karabakh. Since people are being evicted now, let their villages, which are now under the control of Azerbaijan, be returned to them," says historian Mger Arutyunyan.

According to him, the residents of those villages have become refugees twice, and there are some of them who are being resettled for the third time already. People have to leave villages with the established infrastructure and houses that they built after the first war.