Roman Arustamyan (former resident of Shahumyan region) - My wife's father and mother stayed there, they were killed, my mother was somehow brought to Stepanakert, she spent the night in the forest.
The former chairman of the district committee remembers how his family was forcibly displaced from their Homeland 31 years ago, along with other residents of Shahumyan.
The Armenian-populated Shahumyan region became one of the targets of the ‘Koltso (Ring) Operation’ launched in May 1991 by the army units of the Soviet armed forces, units of internal troops and the newly created special forces of Soviet Azerbaijan. In the middle of June 1992, the Azerbaijani armed forces completely occupied the Shahumyan region and drove out about 20 thousand Armenians from there through mass crimes. More than 700 people were killed and went missing. Armenian historical settlements were depopulated and looted, Armenian spiritual and cultural monuments of the region were vandalized and destroyed.
To pay tribute to the memory of their brothers and sisters who died during the forced deportation, meet each other and together remember their small Homeland, resident of Shahumyan settled in different regions of Russia gathered in the courtyard of the Armenian Church in Moscow and laid flowers at the khachkar (cross-stone) erected years ago.
Artur Ghahramanyan (former resident of Shahumyan region) - It was a very beautiful nature, we had Armenian schools in all villages, I also graduated from an Armenian school, for which I am very proud. We had a canning factory, more than 600 people worked during the season. We had rich agricultural products. There was a gypsum mine, about 200 people worked. We had a wine factory, a motor transport... there is no one here who did not have a two-story house.
After the complete ethnic cleansing, Azerbaijan resettled the region with around two dozen Armenian settlements in the Shahumyan region. According to eyewitnesses, the Azerbaijanis took the houses of the Armenians, writing their names on the gates. They desecrated the church, tore off the cross, and broke the bell with shots, the eyewitnesses say. Leaving home and possessions, the people of Shahumyan scattered around the world, but their hearts remained there, in their small Homeland.
Armen Lalayan (representative of the Moscow community of Shahumyans) - The largest community of Shahumyan residents operates in Moscow, also established in Kaliningrad, Saratov, Tver, Tyumen, Rzhev. People from Armenia also arrived at today's event. The main goal is to convey the history of our Homeland to the younger generation, believing that sooner or later we will return.
The crimes committed against the people of Shahumyan were a ‘punitive’ act for their free expression, the realization of their right to live independently and with dignity in their own Homeland.
Artur Ghahramanyan - We are also very united abroad, we do not forget our roots and history and we hope to return one day.
The actions carried out against the Armenians of Shahumyan region are a clear example of ethnic cleansing, for which the Azerbaijani authorities have not been held accountable. According to the residents of Shahumyan, the issue of restoring their rights should also be fixed in the negotiation agenda.
The expulsion of the Armenian population of Shahumyan on the basis of national, religious and ethnic affiliation has not been assessed by the international community, and the ongoing impunity continues to give birth to new crimes, which we are witnessing even today, in the Lachin Corridor and on the Artsakh-Azerbaijan contact line.
