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War Imprint: Karabakh Veterans Say They Are Neglected By Authorities

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  • War Imprint: Karabakh Veterans Say They Are Neglected By Authorities

    WAR IMPRINT: KARABAKH VETERANS SAY THEY ARE NEGLECTED BY AUTHORITIES
    Anahit Martirosyan
    By Siranuysh Gevorgyan

    ArmeniaNow
    11.07.11 | 10:43

    A great number of Karabakh war veterans and their families believe
    that their merit has not been appreciated by the state as it should
    have. The majority of them say they don't feel the kind of state care
    they deserve.

    Enlarge Photo Anahit Galstyan

    Anahit Martirosyan, commander of the Anahit brigade, who left for
    the frontline leaving behind two sons, cannot help her frustration.

    "Why is it that today a woman who has lost both her legs is not
    entitled to free-of-charge medical assistance. Why a socially
    vulnerable freedom-fighter's electricity should be cut off with a
    comment that 'you do not have any privileges over others'. Isn't it
    freedom-fighters' merit that today Artsakh can stand victorious?! I am
    a soldier, an Armenian soldier and a victorious soldier. But I hate
    waking up every morning thinking how on earth I am going to raise
    my two sons. This state has to assist freedom-fighters, support them
    and grant certain privileges," says Anahit.

    Oppositional Heritage party member, MP Larisa Alaverdyan, who has been
    repeatedly voicing this issue, said in an interview to ArmeniaNow
    that 20 years have passed but the issues of freedom-fighters, war
    prisoners, disabled war veterans, families of war victims and those
    who went missing still remain unresolved.

    "The most important issue is that of unemployment, that has to be
    solved first of all. And, for some reason, everybody turns to the
    defense ministry, but the government is the one to handle it. What
    psychological state we can talk about when these people apply for jobs
    and see that someone who was hiding throughout the war gets selected,
    but not them," says Alaverdyan adding that the right thing would be
    if every person who has never served in the army could witness what
    respect freedom-fighters are treated with.

    "We have to understand that we are dealing with families of politically
    active and patriotic people," says Alaverdyan, who believes that
    utility privileges have to be given to these families as well as
    the recovery of bank deposits they had during the Soviet times [and
    were lost due to national currency change after independence] should
    be prioritized.

    She says that in fact the number of freedom-fighters is not that
    high to pose tangible difficulty for the government for granting
    such privileges.

    In total, there are 15,000 Karabakh war veterans registered in Armenia
    that participated in the national liberation war of Karabakh against
    Azerbaijan between 1990 and 1994.

    Anahit Galstyan, spouse of legendary Arabo brigade member Hamlet
    Galstyan (who went missing along with 78 other Armenian soldiers
    surrounded in 1992 in Karabakh's Hasan Ghaya village), says that she
    has seen a lot of hardship ever since her husband never returned home
    from the war. Anahit, math teacher by profession, had no choice but
    to give up her work at school and become a vendor.

    "I was so far from trade, but as years passed I have become a vendor,"
    she told ArmeniaNow. Up until 2008 when on YouTube she saw the footage
    of Arabo brigades' killed members and recognized her husband among
    them, Anahit had still been cherishing the hope that her husband
    might be alive. That day opened the old wound and brought new grief
    to Anahit and her three daughters.

    The woman can still vividly recall in her memory the cold shop she
    used to sell fruits at in order to raise her children; and although
    she has managed to overcome all the hardship due to her own efforts,
    she says has received certain help from humanitarian organizations.

    "As for the state, it has assisted as much as it could," says the
    woman with a smile and adds that, for example, her daughters received
    high student allowance while in university.

    It is noteworthy that the union of veterans of task-force militia
    units has appealed to the National Assembly and the Government of
    Armenia to bring to the parliament floor a bill defining privileges
    to participants of the Artsakh war, disabled veterans and families
    of war victims.

    "The purpose of drafting and then applying the bill is to regulate the
    relations between the state bodies and freedom-fighters, disabled war
    veterans and families of war victims. The law would help to shape
    a positive moral-psychological atmosphere for freedom-fighters,
    would raise their role and enhance their profile in our country,"
    believe the war veterans.

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