“Our hungry but brave soldiers fought as much as they could,” she explained, “but without armament, without [the] support of Armenia, left alone … many people were killed or injured, even civilians.”
According to Melquomyan, many Artsakhis, including a 15-year-old relative of her husband’s, are still missing.
Though the Azeri government promised to integrate ethnic Armenians into the country, widespread fears of more violence, reprisals, and religious and cultural persecution led to a massive exodus.
In the days that followed, videos on social media showed miles-long lines of cars filled with Armenians attempting to leave their homeland to escape Azeri rule.
Melquomyan said that people began fleeing just five days after the Azeri offensive, on Sept. 24.
With her family, Melquomyan also fled, leaving her home for the very last time at noon on Sept. 25.
“It was a terrible way with long miles [of] traffic jam, without food and water, sadness in our hearts, tears, homesickness,” she said.
Though the journey to Armenia proper would typically take only six hours, Melquomyan said that it took her family some 36 hours to get out. All the while, she feared that somewhere along the way Azeri authorities would stop and arrest them.
“When driving out of Artsakh I was also afraid that they would stop and arrest my eldest son (he was driving the car) and maybe me too,” she explained. “My daughter was terribly scared and pale, she was always saying: ‘It’s hot, open the window,’ though it was quite cool in the car, she was short of air.”
While over 100,000 Artsakhis successfully escaped into Armenia, not everyone was able to get out. The Azeri government has arrested several high-ranking Artsakh officials and at least one Artsakhi civilian, charging them with war crimes and treason.
Additionally, some 68 Armenians, including women and children, were killed and hundreds more were injured when a gasoline tank exploded beside the highway leading out of Nagorno-Karabakh’s capital city, Stepanakert.
(Story continues below)
Subscribe to our daily newsletter
Rebuilding a new life
Though she was able to escape, her new life in Yerevan, Armenia’s capital city, has not been easy. Far from her ancestral homeland, she and her family must now struggle just to survive and to rebuild their lives. It’s a common struggle that all the Artsakhi refugees share.
“One of the problems is too high [a] renting price, the other one is unemployment,” she said.
Though she said that the Armenian government and aid groups are attempting to help by supplying food and household and hygiene items, many are still struggling to get by. Moreover, the physical and emotional scars that many Artsakhi refugees now bear will last for the rest of their lives.
A people deeply rooted in tradition, perhaps the greatest struggle of all is being separated from the land of their parents and forebears.
“We left the graves of our parents, children, brothers, and sisters,” Melquomyan mourned.