Residents of Former Armenian Village Want to Separate from Town of Gavar

Natives of Hatsarat, who want to secede from the town of Gavar and obtain village status, on Thursday held a protest outside the Armenian government building and submitted a written request, expressing confidence that they will begin to live normally if they have their own village. Speaking to Epress.am, the protesting residents said this has been a problem for several years. 

Norik Gevorgyan said that in 1961, in order to become a town, their village was joined to then Kamo (now, Gavar), but there has been no progress in their community till today. 

"We want to solve our own problems. We have neither an ambulance nor a kindergarten, nor drinking water. Sevan passes through us [our community], gives others water, but we have 2–3 hours of water a day — the French came, bought, and now sit on that water. There are a lot of questions. Now we look at the neighboring villages: before, they were so backward, but now they are shining in light — there's water, kindergarten schools, and recreational facilities. There is something to do for the young and the elderly; the roads are repaired; and our mayor does nothing," he said. 

According to Gevorgyan, all 12,000 residents of former Hatsarat support this decision. 

"At this point, we've come to protest with 400–500 people, and it might seem that we're suggesting such a thing based on our interests, but the entire village is on its feet. We believed the mayor that things will be better, [they] will change, they’ll take us into account, but we see that it’s only getting worse. We are considered residents of the city, [but] we are deprived of everything: residents of the city enjoy a number of benefits that we cannot avail ourselves of," he said. 

Gevorgyan also stressed that they will give up their demand only if the mayor improves their situation and their rights will be equal to those of Gavar residents.