“We cannot leave it to Turks..” Karabakh Armenians burn homes, move their people's graves

Villagers in the Karabakh region set fire to their homes before fleeing to Armenia and moved the graves of their parents on the eve of their handover to Azerbaijan under the Yerevan-Baku ceasefire agreement, signed in Moscow, which returns to Azerbaijan vast areas that have been under Armenian control since the early 1990s.

14 November, 2020 18:47

NEWS DESK

On the eve of Azerbaijan's restoration of large areas in the disputed Karabakh region that were under Armenian control, the inhabitants of Armenian villages set fire to their homes before fleeing towards Armenia.

"It is the last day for us here. Tomorrow the Azerbaijani soldiers will come," said a soldier from Sharkhtar village, Kalbajar district that will be handed over to Baku.

In this village alone, which is located on border of the neighboring Martakert region, which will remain under Armenian control, at least six homes caught fire on Saturday morning, according to AFP.

The owner of one of these houses said, “This is my house, I cannot leave it to the Turks,” as Armenians call Azerbaijanis.

He added, "We were waiting to make our order but when they started dismantling the hydroelectric power station, we understood, everyone will burn their house today (...) They gave us a deadline until midnight to leave."

He added, "We have also moved our graves, as the Azerbaijanis will be happy to desecrate our graves. It is intolerable ... all of them are traitors."

(A)

ANHA