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30 Armenian families live in liberated Van
“These lands were not given as gifts; these lands were liberated with blood and these lands will never be returned,” teacher Vardan Vardanian says.
by Tatul Hakobyan
Published: Friday February 20, 2009
Van, Nagorno-Karabakh - Vardan Vardanian and his wife moved to the village of Van when it was established in 1999. Their two children, five-year-old son Sergo and two-year-old daughter Ani-Van, were born here. The village is in the Kashatagh region of Nagorno-Karabakh on the banks of the Voghji River. Mr. Vardanian and his family live in one of the rooms on the second floor of the local school, which is only 3 kilometers away from the Araks River, the border with Iran.
"When we came here, life was a bit hard in Armenia. I am from Berd city and my wife is from Sevan. When we came to live in Van, the monthly salary of a teacher here was twice that of a teacher in Armenia. Those who move here no longer want to leave. Apart from the fact that my wife and I are teachers and receive our monthly wages, we can also keep animals and tend orchards," he says.
Mr. Vardanian is a physicist and has been the director of the school in Van for the past seven years. Prior to that he used to work in the Aygehovit village school in the Kashatagh region.
"I have chosen the teachers of the school in Van. Today the school has 22 students. During its seven years, 15 of our graduates went on to receive higher education. If the state provides housing, I can bring high-quality teachers to Van. But let me say that currently we have good specialists," he boasts.
Yurik Yeghian, head of the village, agrees: Van faces housing issues. He adds that recently, state officials approached the residents and began allocating funds for different community projects as well as loans for the purchase of animals.
"Now there are no available homes for people; otherwise there are people willing to move to Van. It would be a good thing if the state helped with the apartment issue. If they are not constructing, they can at least give loans to people. A few days ago people came who wanted to move to Van from Meghri, but there were no available apartments," says Mr. Yeghian.
In the past, during the Soviet era, Van was called Jhangirbeyli and was populated only by Azerbaijanis. But the phrase "in the past" is relative, and the residents of today's Van believe that they live in their patrimony, a territory that had been populated by Armenians for centuries.
Mr. Vardanian does not even want to hear that one day these lands might be handed over to Azerbaijan as peace guarantees.
"There are such rumors, but these lands were not given as gifts; these lands were liberated with blood and these lands will never be returned. How can you return land? These are our ancestral lands, this is Armenia. I do not believe that anyone would be despicable enough to sign a document returning these lands. I cannot imagine such an Armenian traitor," he says emphatically.
It is not clear how many in Armenia, Artsakh, and the diaspora think like Mr. Vardanian. But if actions speak louder than words, then the fact is that few people have moved to the liberated territories.
High birth rate
Some 13,000 Armenians lived in these liberated lands ten to twelve years ago; today their number has decreased by half. Today the population is not growing, but it also is not decreasing.
The residents of Van are mainly from the village of Daratumb in the Yeghegnadzor region of Armenia. Daratumb is en route to the Selim mountain pass toward Lake Sevan. For more than half of the year, it is cold and the living conditions are not good.
"It is not because of good living conditions that we moved to Van. Daratumb was also a village of immigrants: our grandfathers, seven families, emigrated from the Ghorukh village in the Khoy province of Iran in 1830. Since present-day Daratumb is too small for its residents, part of the village, mainly the younger families, moved to Van. Currently this village has 30 families and 127 residents. We have families with many children. For example, Husik Khachatrian has seven children, one of whom is already married. The village is expanding not only because of resettlement, but also because of natural growth. This year we have already had five births," says Mr. Yeghian.
Naming the village
Van was established in 1999. Felix Hayrapetian was the founder of the village and the first village head. Why did they name the village Van? This is how the village head explains it: "Well, since its neighbors were Moush, Alashkert, and Berkri, naturally this village had to be Van."
Moush, Alashkert, and Berkri are the names of settlements in historic Armenia, now part of Turkey; the city of Van in today's Turkey is the cradle of Armenian civilization.
Mr. Vardanian, the school director, adds, "It was the initiative of Alexan Hakobian, the former head of the Kashatagh region, to restore the historical names."
Just like in the rest of the communities in Kashatagh, there are many difficulties and problems in Van. For more than 10 years the residents of Van have been bringing drinking water from Alashkert, which is about 10 kilometers away from their village.
"People have been carrying water for ten years now. We have reached the point where the state has now allocated means for providing us with drinking water. This year the drinking water issue will be resolved. This means that these lands will not be returned. Last year the state fixed our irrigation water system. In the past there was much talk about returning the lands, but now people almost do not talk about that. People have constructed houses from scratch and are creating orchards," says Mr. Yeghian.
Mr. Vardanian believes that those who have stayed here will never return and no one can return these lands, as they already have graves here.
http://www.reporter.am/go/article/2009-02-20-30-armenian-families-live-in-liberated-van
by Tatul Hakobyan
Published: Friday February 20, 2009
Van, Nagorno-Karabakh - Vardan Vardanian and his wife moved to the village of Van when it was established in 1999. Their two children, five-year-old son Sergo and two-year-old daughter Ani-Van, were born here. The village is in the Kashatagh region of Nagorno-Karabakh on the banks of the Voghji River. Mr. Vardanian and his family live in one of the rooms on the second floor of the local school, which is only 3 kilometers away from the Araks River, the border with Iran.
"When we came here, life was a bit hard in Armenia. I am from Berd city and my wife is from Sevan. When we came to live in Van, the monthly salary of a teacher here was twice that of a teacher in Armenia. Those who move here no longer want to leave. Apart from the fact that my wife and I are teachers and receive our monthly wages, we can also keep animals and tend orchards," he says.
Mr. Vardanian is a physicist and has been the director of the school in Van for the past seven years. Prior to that he used to work in the Aygehovit village school in the Kashatagh region.
"I have chosen the teachers of the school in Van. Today the school has 22 students. During its seven years, 15 of our graduates went on to receive higher education. If the state provides housing, I can bring high-quality teachers to Van. But let me say that currently we have good specialists," he boasts.
Yurik Yeghian, head of the village, agrees: Van faces housing issues. He adds that recently, state officials approached the residents and began allocating funds for different community projects as well as loans for the purchase of animals.
"Now there are no available homes for people; otherwise there are people willing to move to Van. It would be a good thing if the state helped with the apartment issue. If they are not constructing, they can at least give loans to people. A few days ago people came who wanted to move to Van from Meghri, but there were no available apartments," says Mr. Yeghian.
In the past, during the Soviet era, Van was called Jhangirbeyli and was populated only by Azerbaijanis. But the phrase "in the past" is relative, and the residents of today's Van believe that they live in their patrimony, a territory that had been populated by Armenians for centuries.
Mr. Vardanian does not even want to hear that one day these lands might be handed over to Azerbaijan as peace guarantees.
"There are such rumors, but these lands were not given as gifts; these lands were liberated with blood and these lands will never be returned. How can you return land? These are our ancestral lands, this is Armenia. I do not believe that anyone would be despicable enough to sign a document returning these lands. I cannot imagine such an Armenian traitor," he says emphatically.
It is not clear how many in Armenia, Artsakh, and the diaspora think like Mr. Vardanian. But if actions speak louder than words, then the fact is that few people have moved to the liberated territories.
High birth rate
Some 13,000 Armenians lived in these liberated lands ten to twelve years ago; today their number has decreased by half. Today the population is not growing, but it also is not decreasing.
The residents of Van are mainly from the village of Daratumb in the Yeghegnadzor region of Armenia. Daratumb is en route to the Selim mountain pass toward Lake Sevan. For more than half of the year, it is cold and the living conditions are not good.
"It is not because of good living conditions that we moved to Van. Daratumb was also a village of immigrants: our grandfathers, seven families, emigrated from the Ghorukh village in the Khoy province of Iran in 1830. Since present-day Daratumb is too small for its residents, part of the village, mainly the younger families, moved to Van. Currently this village has 30 families and 127 residents. We have families with many children. For example, Husik Khachatrian has seven children, one of whom is already married. The village is expanding not only because of resettlement, but also because of natural growth. This year we have already had five births," says Mr. Yeghian.
Naming the village
Van was established in 1999. Felix Hayrapetian was the founder of the village and the first village head. Why did they name the village Van? This is how the village head explains it: "Well, since its neighbors were Moush, Alashkert, and Berkri, naturally this village had to be Van."
Moush, Alashkert, and Berkri are the names of settlements in historic Armenia, now part of Turkey; the city of Van in today's Turkey is the cradle of Armenian civilization.
Mr. Vardanian, the school director, adds, "It was the initiative of Alexan Hakobian, the former head of the Kashatagh region, to restore the historical names."
Just like in the rest of the communities in Kashatagh, there are many difficulties and problems in Van. For more than 10 years the residents of Van have been bringing drinking water from Alashkert, which is about 10 kilometers away from their village.
"People have been carrying water for ten years now. We have reached the point where the state has now allocated means for providing us with drinking water. This year the drinking water issue will be resolved. This means that these lands will not be returned. Last year the state fixed our irrigation water system. In the past there was much talk about returning the lands, but now people almost do not talk about that. People have constructed houses from scratch and are creating orchards," says Mr. Yeghian.
Mr. Vardanian believes that those who have stayed here will never return and no one can return these lands, as they already have graves here.
http://www.reporter.am/go/article/2009-02-20-30-armenian-families-live-in-liberated-van