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"MY ONLY WISH IS THAT ARMENIANS RETURN TO LIVE HERE"
Anahit Danielyan
KarabakhOpen
03-04-2008 16:52:38
"What lands are they talking about giving back? Who thinks it's
possible to return even a tiny bit? We won't give back anything",
so says Karineh Danielyan who fought in the Karabakh War.
It was in 1992 that Karineh, now 45 years old, first participated in
the war. She can speak for hours about the various battles all over
Karabakh that she was in.
During our conversation with her she began to recount various war
stories.
Her mother interrupted by saying that Karineh really wasn't able
to talk for long periods without resting. Karineh proudly told us
the story about the lady who used to sell sunflower seeds and dried
fruits in Stepanakert's Rebirth Square. When Karineh would walk besides
her the lady would fill the pockets of her uniform with raisins and
nuts. Later, Karineh would hand this out to her friends in the army.
Karineh relates that, "I participated in the battles in Hadrut,
Martakert, Shushi and other areas. The last battle I was in was in the
Basharat village in the Ghubatli region in 1993. It was a very fierce
battle. I was the only female left after they removed the wounded. I
was handed all the bags of medicine in the event that more wounded
would have to be treated. Even though I wasn't a nurse, there were
times during the war that I was obliged to offer medical help."
While treating the wounded in that spot Karineh herself was wounded. "I
remember that there were a few wounded soldiers. They asked us to take
at look. We approached them and started to treat their wounds. The
last thing I remember was applying a wooden splint to one of the
guy's feet to keep the bone straight. Later I found out that a shell
had exploded nearby, wounding me in the head."
"When I opened my eyes I saw a bunch of doctors and nurses hovering
about. Even though they were speaking Armenian I took them for Azeris
and thus believed I had been taken prisoner. I wasn't in my right
mind and wasn't able to speak. It was only when I saw my mother's face
that I finally calmed down." Karineh spent three months recuperating
in Yerevan's Republic Hospital.
Karineh's central nervous system was damaged as a result of the
war. She first received treatment in Stepanakert and later she was
transferred to Yerevan. She periodically went for check-ups until 1997.
Her mother relates that the doctors initially held out little hope
that Karineh would survive her injuries. "I was standing in a corridor
when I overheard two doctors talking. One was telling the other that
it was useless to inject Karineh with more drugs, as her condition
was too far-gone. Upon hearing this I jumped up and demanded that
they continue the injections.
Slowly my girl's condition improved."
Karineh's mother, Mrs. Rima, has seen her share of life as well. Her
husband, who worked in the Shushi Post Office in 1988, was attacked
and beaten by a group of Azeris. The man lost his eyesight as a result
and later died.
Karineh's family was one of the many forcibly evicted from Shushi at
the time. "It was September 1988. For several days straight the local
Azeris were breaking the windows of Armenian homes and cursing us. I
was working in the hotel at the time", recounts Mrs. Rima.
One day Mrs. Rima overheard some Azeris talking in the hotel about
plans to attack the Armenians and drive them out of Shushi. "They
didn't know that I was Armenian and calmly continued their
conversation. That same day my boss, who was an Azeri, instructed me
to immediately return home and not venture outside." She went on to
say that the Azeri assault on Armenian homes began that evening. They
securely locked all the doors in the house but all their windows had
been shattered. She recounts that, "We spent that entire night in
the bathroom, the safest place in the whole house."
Russian soldiers, with tanks, began ferrying out her and other Armenian
families from Shushi starting the next day. Tanks were the safest form
of transport back then. They were taken to a dormitory in Stepanakert
where they lived until Shushi was liberated in 1992. They returned to
Shushi and moved back into their former apartment. But the building
itself had been heavily damaged due to the fighting and the family was
forced to move to another apartment in which the mother and daughter
reside till today.
Karineh Danielyan, who is registered as a level one war disabled
person, states that, "I am content living as I do in the place where
I was born." She is grateful to her war buddies that help her out
when needed.
The former freedom-fighter, who has been honored with her share of
medals, adds that, "I receive a 64,000 dram pension and my mother
25,000. We can't complain; things are OK."
She frequently gets to see the people she fought alongside of during
the war years. "Now I have trouble walking and I tire quickly if I
talk to long.
My memory sometimes fails me as well", says Karineh, a beautiful
smile covering her face. "I live comfortably in the town I call my
own. My only wish is for Armenians to move back here and rebuild
what's been destroyed."
Anahit Danielyan
KarabakhOpen
03-04-2008 16:52:38
"What lands are they talking about giving back? Who thinks it's
possible to return even a tiny bit? We won't give back anything",
so says Karineh Danielyan who fought in the Karabakh War.
It was in 1992 that Karineh, now 45 years old, first participated in
the war. She can speak for hours about the various battles all over
Karabakh that she was in.
During our conversation with her she began to recount various war
stories.
Her mother interrupted by saying that Karineh really wasn't able
to talk for long periods without resting. Karineh proudly told us
the story about the lady who used to sell sunflower seeds and dried
fruits in Stepanakert's Rebirth Square. When Karineh would walk besides
her the lady would fill the pockets of her uniform with raisins and
nuts. Later, Karineh would hand this out to her friends in the army.
Karineh relates that, "I participated in the battles in Hadrut,
Martakert, Shushi and other areas. The last battle I was in was in the
Basharat village in the Ghubatli region in 1993. It was a very fierce
battle. I was the only female left after they removed the wounded. I
was handed all the bags of medicine in the event that more wounded
would have to be treated. Even though I wasn't a nurse, there were
times during the war that I was obliged to offer medical help."
While treating the wounded in that spot Karineh herself was wounded. "I
remember that there were a few wounded soldiers. They asked us to take
at look. We approached them and started to treat their wounds. The
last thing I remember was applying a wooden splint to one of the
guy's feet to keep the bone straight. Later I found out that a shell
had exploded nearby, wounding me in the head."
"When I opened my eyes I saw a bunch of doctors and nurses hovering
about. Even though they were speaking Armenian I took them for Azeris
and thus believed I had been taken prisoner. I wasn't in my right
mind and wasn't able to speak. It was only when I saw my mother's face
that I finally calmed down." Karineh spent three months recuperating
in Yerevan's Republic Hospital.
Karineh's central nervous system was damaged as a result of the
war. She first received treatment in Stepanakert and later she was
transferred to Yerevan. She periodically went for check-ups until 1997.
Her mother relates that the doctors initially held out little hope
that Karineh would survive her injuries. "I was standing in a corridor
when I overheard two doctors talking. One was telling the other that
it was useless to inject Karineh with more drugs, as her condition
was too far-gone. Upon hearing this I jumped up and demanded that
they continue the injections.
Slowly my girl's condition improved."
Karineh's mother, Mrs. Rima, has seen her share of life as well. Her
husband, who worked in the Shushi Post Office in 1988, was attacked
and beaten by a group of Azeris. The man lost his eyesight as a result
and later died.
Karineh's family was one of the many forcibly evicted from Shushi at
the time. "It was September 1988. For several days straight the local
Azeris were breaking the windows of Armenian homes and cursing us. I
was working in the hotel at the time", recounts Mrs. Rima.
One day Mrs. Rima overheard some Azeris talking in the hotel about
plans to attack the Armenians and drive them out of Shushi. "They
didn't know that I was Armenian and calmly continued their
conversation. That same day my boss, who was an Azeri, instructed me
to immediately return home and not venture outside." She went on to
say that the Azeri assault on Armenian homes began that evening. They
securely locked all the doors in the house but all their windows had
been shattered. She recounts that, "We spent that entire night in
the bathroom, the safest place in the whole house."
Russian soldiers, with tanks, began ferrying out her and other Armenian
families from Shushi starting the next day. Tanks were the safest form
of transport back then. They were taken to a dormitory in Stepanakert
where they lived until Shushi was liberated in 1992. They returned to
Shushi and moved back into their former apartment. But the building
itself had been heavily damaged due to the fighting and the family was
forced to move to another apartment in which the mother and daughter
reside till today.
Karineh Danielyan, who is registered as a level one war disabled
person, states that, "I am content living as I do in the place where
I was born." She is grateful to her war buddies that help her out
when needed.
The former freedom-fighter, who has been honored with her share of
medals, adds that, "I receive a 64,000 dram pension and my mother
25,000. We can't complain; things are OK."
She frequently gets to see the people she fought alongside of during
the war years. "Now I have trouble walking and I tire quickly if I
talk to long.
My memory sometimes fails me as well", says Karineh, a beautiful
smile covering her face. "I live comfortably in the town I call my
own. My only wish is for Armenians to move back here and rebuild
what's been destroyed."