An interesting article was published on the official website of the "Institute for War & Peace Reporting" (IWPR) organization related to the processes happening in the Lachin corridor and the plight of the Syrian Armenian who was accommodated there.

IWPR wrote that Karabakh is internationally recognized as a part of Azerbaijan. The article mentions that, despite this, a war for control of this area kicked off in the early 1990s and the region was controlled by the Armenians who won the first war.

The author describes how the life of a Syrian Armenian who moved to Karabakh turned into a nightmare. Hovik Asmarian, his wife Isabel and their three children illegally settled in Khankendi from their native Aleppo in Syria in 2012.

“Our relatives and friends made a convoy of 14 cars. We drove 1,600 kilometres from Syria to Turkey, then through Georgia and Armenia and finally Karabakh,” Hovik stated.

As a young couple Hovik and Isabel had honeymooned in the Karabakh region; surrounded by mountains and lush, fertile fields, the couple fell in love with Karabakh, in particular with Shusha which was destroyed by the separatists. 

Asmarian bought properties in Shusha and Khankendi as well as plots of land where he started what became a flourishing gardening business.

“I brought seedlings from Syria and built gardens on 20 hectares of land. I can say that I built a small Syria in Karabakh. I planted orchards of olive trees on 200 hectares of land Until 2020, our business was thriving, and we started to receive large orders,” the Syrian Armenian noted openly expressing how they looted and exploited other people's lands.

Complaining about the loss of most of the businesses established in Azerbaijanis’ historical and ancestral cities, Asmaryan highlighted that the 44-day war destroyed everything he had created: “I don’t know what to do or what will happen in the future. Before and during the [2020] war, I knew what to do, but now, in this complete uncertainty, I have no answers. I do not trust the authorities in Armenia. They deceived us all, constantly saying that we will win soon, but in fact, suffering defeat after defeat.”

The article also mentioned the tourism field adding that the constant threat of renewed fighting brings fewer people to the region, including from Armenia; tourism from abroad, which until 2020 was a major source of income for local businesses, has vanished.

Asmarian keeps a Kalashnikov rifle on the piano in the living room and has more guns stored elsewhere.

“After the war, I got permission from the government [separatist regime] to legally keep Weapons at home,” Asmaryan said, explaining that he fears a new escalation.

After all, Azerbaijani troops are in Shusha, just 10 kilometres away from here [Khankendi]. Before the war, I didn’t even have a gas pistol. I was sure that the Armenian army would protect me. But, now we have to keep weapons at home. It’s natural that we want to defend ourselves. Who do I rely on, the Russians?”, Asmaryan highlighted without hiding his fear of a new escalation.

Asmarian concluded; “I came here to become a citizen of the Armenian state, and not to accept Azerbaijani rules of life for me and my children. My son is 17 years old. Next year, he is due to serve in the army, but how can I trust my son to an army whose commander shamefully lost the war?”

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