Haterk Needs A Bridge

[MosJan]

Haterk needs a bridge

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The village of Haterk is known for its history and people who are always ready to defend themselves.

 

Haterk is situated at 1000 km above sea and 45 km to the west of the town of Martakert, on the bank of the Tartar River. Mount Mrav is behind the village. Those who visit Haterk are lucky. There are villages in Karabakh which have a magnificent scenery. The village of Haterk looks to the province of Khachen. Therefore, people in this village have a free thinking and let nobody control their wishes and thoughts.

It is two hours from Stepanakert to Haterk by car. Not because the village is high on the mountain side, and it seems that the car cannot overcome the rocks. But because it is necessary to cross the river which becomes wild in spring. The way along the bridge is long. The short way crosses the river in a shallow place, which is impossible for small cars.

The people of Haterk propose building a bridge in the place of this crossing. They have invited specialists, sponsors. No one has attended to this yet. The people of Haterk say the road would become shorter by 20 km if a bridge were built. And it would be easier to take their products to the market. Otherwise, the famous cornelian cherry vodka remains in the cellars.

In 1990 a squad of volunteers was set up in Haterk with a population of 3200. On August 16, 1991 the soldiers of the squad and the women of the village took hostages 43 servicemen of the force of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs and demanded to release the young men from Haterk and Chapar who were imprisoned by the force of the MIA and transferred to the Azerbaijani force. On August 18 the members of the Krunk Committee arrived in the village and mediated the exchange of hostages.

From June 1992 Haterk and the adjacent villages were shelled from the emplacements at the villages of Agdaban, Charektar and Nareshtar, Kelbajar region. On June 5 the foe occupied the village, the houses were set to fire, about two hundred peaceful people underwent violence. The artilleries of the Defense Force and the volunteers managed to stop the advance of the foe in other directions and to evacuate the population.

On July 20 the squad of Haterk launched an offensive against the foe concentrated in the village, then retreated and were positioned in the direction of the villages of Vaghuhas and Cheldran. On February 20, 1993 the Defense Force liberated the village. 44 freedom fighters were killed.

Now the population of the village is 1600. The school and the nursery school have been repaired. This year there are three first grades at school.

Haterk is not one of those villages which could not get round after occupation and displacement. People here live the way they fight, creating conditions for their life and leisure. And nobody can do them harm, especially with Mount Mrav in their back.

 

NAIRA HAYRUMYAN

[MosJan]

Our produce gets spoilt before it gets to the shop

Our produce gets spoilt before it gets to the shop

The land liberated through sacrifices cannot be returned, and freedom cannot be given away. We fought for freedom, and it was the most important thing for us. Arkady Arzumanyan, a 73-year-old inhabitant of the village of Togh, Hadrut region, began with these words.

He thinks we cannot exchange freedom for promises. But we need a government which is able to defend our independence, says the former director of the village school, father of four children, one of them killed in war.

Now he lives in the neighboring village of Mokhrenes with his other son who is a teacher.

“I live with the family of my son. We work hard to earn our living. We work the land, we grow wheat, vegetables, we keep cows, hens,” Arkady Arzumanyan says. “I think the state of the villages will improve if the population of Stepanakert becomes 200 thousand – we will be able to sell our products,” he says.

“Our produce gets spoilt in the field. There are no processing factories, no canneries. The government should think about it,” he says.