Tweet
Fighting Still: 20 years after cease fire, veterans battle survival
CEASEFIRE 20 | 17.05.14 | 07:51
http://armenianow.com/karabakh/ceasefire_20/53830/karabakh_war_armenian_army_veterans_pensions_for_w ar_veterans
NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow
By SIRANUYSH GEVORGYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter
RELATED NEWS
Ceasefire 20: Two decades of 'neither war, nor peace' after cessation
of Karabakh hostilities
Ceasefire 20: Minsk Group activities - failure or success?
Twenty Years of Suffering: "Ceasefire" Not a Guarantee Against Grief
It's with great paternal pride that veteran "freedom fighter" Gagik
Hovhannisyan dines at a table together with his seven sons and five
daughters. Bringing up a dozen children wasn't an easy task for
Hovhannisyan and his wife, Armenuhi Manukyan.
"I brought up the kids through debts," says Hovhannisyan, 47.
Seventy thousand drams ($168) military pension and 68,000 drams ($163)
poverty aid is not enough to cover even a part of the large family's
needs.
Hovhannisyan lost 12 close friends in the Karabakh war. He vowed to
"replace" them with 12 children. From his oldest, age 25, to the
youngest, age 10 months, the names they carry are the ones of the 12
friends the war veteran lost in battle. Even his daughters' names he
chose making the male names into female, for instance, Meline instead
of Menua, Tigranuhi instead of Tigran.
The 20 years since ceasefire (May, 1994) have been daily struggles for
the Hovhannisyan family.
Having a status of homeless, the family received a compensation from
the Ministry of Defense only in 2006. The family purchased a house in
Nor Kharberd district. Before that they had rented a house, at for a
while had lived in Yerevan's "Town of Hope" district for large and
needy families. Having a shelter over their heads was, surely, very
fortunate for the family, but the difficulties didn't decrease.
Hovhannisyan, who was a tailor, was suffered a concussion in 1993
during fighting in Martakert. He also suffered a wound the hand, and
cannot work. There are shrapnel in his head and he can barely control
his hand.
"As soon as we receive the pension we go buy three sacks of flour,
five sacks of potatoes, not to mention pastas and grains. We don't
demand the state to take care of it, we gave birth to the children, we
will take care of them, but the state should pay some attention, we
cannot ask all the time. My wife is a mother of 12, she must be given
some privileges, not me. In the end, she gets to dress, feed, bathe
and school these many children," says Hovhannisyan.
"Just like a gardener dropping seeds in the land and rejoicing and
cherishing each sprout, I equally am proud of each of my children. I
love my kids, I struggle and even borrow money from others to buy some
clothes. The pension is not enough, and we have three million drams
($$???) debt for electricity, but I struggle to keep my family stable.
They might say I'm crazy, but there is nothing crazy about this, a
patriot and a loving parent is something special," says the mother,
Armenuhi.
The 42-years-old woman was enraged by Serzh Sargsyan's words addressed
to freedom fighters striking for improvements of social conditions at
a Yerkrapah Union of Volunteers (YUV) meeting in February, saying that
"Unfortunately, we still have some separate individuals' whining in
various squares, that they protected the country, shed blood, and now
raise our pensions or we'd organize a revolution. We know very well
who, where and how much blood was shed. We are also aware of the value
of the words and the ability of actions of such people."
"Freedom fighters don't whine, they just demand respect, not to live
in miserable conditions, even if the freedom fighter is not disabled.
I know for sure that he is disabled by seeing his friend die next to
him, seeing bloodshed. We see a dead body of a relative and we can't
take it, how is it possible not to become psychologically disabled
when your friend is killed next to you," reflects Manukyan.
Veterans of the Karabakh called strikes since last May in front of
various government buildings demanding certain solutions to their
social problems. The freedom fighters were saying that they kept
silent for 20 years, but they were no longer going to tolerate
neglect.
In total nowadays in Armenia there are registered 15,000 war veterans
who participated in military actions against Azeribaijan in Karabagh
in 1990-1994. Individual pensions fluctuates between 40,000-80,000
drams ($96-192).
The protests have not yielded results. Last October, retired army
colonel Volodya Avetisyan, who had initiated strikes was kept in
custody for fraud and in suspicion of fraud. An investigation
continues, and the veterans now mainly strike in protest of
Avetisyan's arrest.
Gagik Sarukhanyan, also a freedom fighter participating in strikes,
says that they will definitely continue the struggle.
"Today's government, in peace or in war, doesn't care for our
motherland. They are busy with robbery. Whoever bothers them, they
just get rid of him," says Sarukhanyan.
"In the end, our aim is not just raising the pension, that's just the
excuse to show how rotten our country is. They say, 'the budget is
empty, we cannot help you...' But how do the ministers manage to build
million-dollar palaces? Those ministers must have worked at that
position 150 years and received high salaries to be able to build such
places," says Sarukhanyan.
Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan says the state office
does everything possible in its power, but the solution to the freedom
fighters' problems lies in the abilities of the state.
"The freedom fighters are granted various amounts of monetary aids,
accommodations, and educational aid for their children, etc. and I
don't even mention smaller things like events, presents, some medical
aid, holiday packages, etc. Monthly 100-150 people have a reception at
the Minister's office, we try to give solutions to all problems," says
the spokesman, adding that about $7.2 million a month is allocated
from the State Budget.
"Most of that money is directed to providing housing for homeless
families. Only during the last 3-4 years nearly 300 apartments or
compensations were granted," says spokesman Hovhannisyan.
Another veteran, also named Hovhannisyan, says that if need be he
would take up to arms and fight for his country again. Gagik
Hovhannisyan's eyes sparkle when he speaks about his son, Jivan
currently in the Armenian army.
"The other day I saw him on 'Zinuzh' (a MOD TV program). He was saying
he would continue his father's work," says the proud father.
But his wife gets worried for a minute, remembering her conversation
with a young man. "A young man of 23 says so what, let the Azerbaijani
come and take up our country... it's been only 20 years since the war,
didn't his parents tell him what that war was for?"
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
CEASEFIRE 20 | 17.05.14 | 07:51
http://armenianow.com/karabakh/ceasefire_20/53830/karabakh_war_armenian_army_veterans_pensions_for_w ar_veterans
NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow
By SIRANUYSH GEVORGYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter
RELATED NEWS
Ceasefire 20: Two decades of 'neither war, nor peace' after cessation
of Karabakh hostilities
Ceasefire 20: Minsk Group activities - failure or success?
Twenty Years of Suffering: "Ceasefire" Not a Guarantee Against Grief
It's with great paternal pride that veteran "freedom fighter" Gagik
Hovhannisyan dines at a table together with his seven sons and five
daughters. Bringing up a dozen children wasn't an easy task for
Hovhannisyan and his wife, Armenuhi Manukyan.
"I brought up the kids through debts," says Hovhannisyan, 47.
Seventy thousand drams ($168) military pension and 68,000 drams ($163)
poverty aid is not enough to cover even a part of the large family's
needs.
Hovhannisyan lost 12 close friends in the Karabakh war. He vowed to
"replace" them with 12 children. From his oldest, age 25, to the
youngest, age 10 months, the names they carry are the ones of the 12
friends the war veteran lost in battle. Even his daughters' names he
chose making the male names into female, for instance, Meline instead
of Menua, Tigranuhi instead of Tigran.
The 20 years since ceasefire (May, 1994) have been daily struggles for
the Hovhannisyan family.
Having a status of homeless, the family received a compensation from
the Ministry of Defense only in 2006. The family purchased a house in
Nor Kharberd district. Before that they had rented a house, at for a
while had lived in Yerevan's "Town of Hope" district for large and
needy families. Having a shelter over their heads was, surely, very
fortunate for the family, but the difficulties didn't decrease.
Hovhannisyan, who was a tailor, was suffered a concussion in 1993
during fighting in Martakert. He also suffered a wound the hand, and
cannot work. There are shrapnel in his head and he can barely control
his hand.
"As soon as we receive the pension we go buy three sacks of flour,
five sacks of potatoes, not to mention pastas and grains. We don't
demand the state to take care of it, we gave birth to the children, we
will take care of them, but the state should pay some attention, we
cannot ask all the time. My wife is a mother of 12, she must be given
some privileges, not me. In the end, she gets to dress, feed, bathe
and school these many children," says Hovhannisyan.
"Just like a gardener dropping seeds in the land and rejoicing and
cherishing each sprout, I equally am proud of each of my children. I
love my kids, I struggle and even borrow money from others to buy some
clothes. The pension is not enough, and we have three million drams
($$???) debt for electricity, but I struggle to keep my family stable.
They might say I'm crazy, but there is nothing crazy about this, a
patriot and a loving parent is something special," says the mother,
Armenuhi.
The 42-years-old woman was enraged by Serzh Sargsyan's words addressed
to freedom fighters striking for improvements of social conditions at
a Yerkrapah Union of Volunteers (YUV) meeting in February, saying that
"Unfortunately, we still have some separate individuals' whining in
various squares, that they protected the country, shed blood, and now
raise our pensions or we'd organize a revolution. We know very well
who, where and how much blood was shed. We are also aware of the value
of the words and the ability of actions of such people."
"Freedom fighters don't whine, they just demand respect, not to live
in miserable conditions, even if the freedom fighter is not disabled.
I know for sure that he is disabled by seeing his friend die next to
him, seeing bloodshed. We see a dead body of a relative and we can't
take it, how is it possible not to become psychologically disabled
when your friend is killed next to you," reflects Manukyan.
Veterans of the Karabakh called strikes since last May in front of
various government buildings demanding certain solutions to their
social problems. The freedom fighters were saying that they kept
silent for 20 years, but they were no longer going to tolerate
neglect.
In total nowadays in Armenia there are registered 15,000 war veterans
who participated in military actions against Azeribaijan in Karabagh
in 1990-1994. Individual pensions fluctuates between 40,000-80,000
drams ($96-192).
The protests have not yielded results. Last October, retired army
colonel Volodya Avetisyan, who had initiated strikes was kept in
custody for fraud and in suspicion of fraud. An investigation
continues, and the veterans now mainly strike in protest of
Avetisyan's arrest.
Gagik Sarukhanyan, also a freedom fighter participating in strikes,
says that they will definitely continue the struggle.
"Today's government, in peace or in war, doesn't care for our
motherland. They are busy with robbery. Whoever bothers them, they
just get rid of him," says Sarukhanyan.
"In the end, our aim is not just raising the pension, that's just the
excuse to show how rotten our country is. They say, 'the budget is
empty, we cannot help you...' But how do the ministers manage to build
million-dollar palaces? Those ministers must have worked at that
position 150 years and received high salaries to be able to build such
places," says Sarukhanyan.
Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan says the state office
does everything possible in its power, but the solution to the freedom
fighters' problems lies in the abilities of the state.
"The freedom fighters are granted various amounts of monetary aids,
accommodations, and educational aid for their children, etc. and I
don't even mention smaller things like events, presents, some medical
aid, holiday packages, etc. Monthly 100-150 people have a reception at
the Minister's office, we try to give solutions to all problems," says
the spokesman, adding that about $7.2 million a month is allocated
from the State Budget.
"Most of that money is directed to providing housing for homeless
families. Only during the last 3-4 years nearly 300 apartments or
compensations were granted," says spokesman Hovhannisyan.
Another veteran, also named Hovhannisyan, says that if need be he
would take up to arms and fight for his country again. Gagik
Hovhannisyan's eyes sparkle when he speaks about his son, Jivan
currently in the Armenian army.
"The other day I saw him on 'Zinuzh' (a MOD TV program). He was saying
he would continue his father's work," says the proud father.
But his wife gets worried for a minute, remembering her conversation
with a young man. "A young man of 23 says so what, let the Azerbaijani
come and take up our country... it's been only 20 years since the war,
didn't his parents tell him what that war was for?"
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress