Despite authorities' warning, Akhavno villager burns his house down

Despite the warnings pronounced by Nagorno-Karabakh authorities not to burn or damage their houses prior to abandoning them, a resident of the village of Akhavno has burned down his house, filmed the process and posted it in social networks.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 5, the Minister of Territorial Management and Infrastructures of Nagorno-Karabakh has a meeting with members of the communities of Akhavno, Sus and the city of Berdzor (the Azerbaijani name is Lachin) and said that they had to leave their houses by August 25, since the Lachin Corridor would be handed over to Azerbaijan.

On August 14, a video appeared in a social network, in which a young man says that he, a resident of the village of Akhavno, is forced to evacuate, but is "categorically against" the government "selling his house to Azerbaijan," after which he burns it down.

The author of the video says to the camera that he is in his house, where he and his brother had grown up for 28 years; and his son was supposed to live there. "It breaks my heart that I will burn my house down with my own hands," he said, adding that he did not want to leave the house.

"The authorities threaten that they won't pay us compensations if we burn down our houses. No one in this world is able to replace this sacred land for me, where the blood of my relatives was shed. I am not selling my house, or my family, or my homeland," said the young man, whose words were translated by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 15, 2022 at 01:09 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.