Epress.am News from Armenia
Susanna Khalatyan’s problems, a resident of the village of Arazap, Armavir marz (province), are an integral part of Armenia’s everyday life. Born in Gyumri, she is in a difficult socio-economic situation since the 1988 earthquak; she does not have a job, is waiting for her turn to receive a house in Gyumri, her only son is in the army, and she still has debt to cover for this winter’s firewood.
Khalatyan called the editors of Epress.am on December 1st, and said that she was from Gyumri and is a victim of the earthquake. She requested that we visit her home and hear her speak of the catastrophic situation she lives in. We decided to visit Gyumri immediately but we were surprised when we could not confirm the woman’s address there. She said that she has been living in Arazap for the past 20 years, waiting for her new apartment or money to be allocated so she can decide what to do in the future.
Arazap is a village in Echmiadzin region, has about 1,800 residents, among whom the majority is engaged in animal husbandry and agriculture.
Susanna was waiting for the Epress.am team near the village’s kindergarten.
A part of the building built back in the 1950’s continues to serve as a kindergarten, while the other part is dilapidated, and a few families presently reside there.
Susanna lives in a room with a leaky ceiling, a furnace placed in the middle of the room, 4 cubic meters of firewood in one corner, of which only a portion has been paid for; the supplier promised to take away the rest if she does not pay the remainder of the money.
The electricity has been cut due to unpaid debt; she is only given the possibility of lighting one light bulb and plugging in her TV set. It is winter and Susanna does not work. According to her, last summer she rented a piece of land and sowed seeds, however due to the lack of water, the harvest was not successful. The price of melons, which she grew, was very low – only 40 AMD per kilogram. Basically, the land renting and harvesting experience failed; she still owes money to one of the residents of the near-by village for fertilizer. She said that they asked her for the money once, but since then they haven’t brought up the issue.
Susanna Khalatyan explained how the family’s only breadwinner is her son Armen, who is currently serving in the army. He was exempt from the army for four years due to a nervous system disorder, however, according to Susanna, her son personally decided to go to the army, so as not to be deemed unfit for service.
The Khalatyans are currently on the waiting list to receive an apartment in Gyumri, but Susanna has no idea when she’ll receive the home’s certificate or the money. When asked if she would return to Gyumri in case of receiving a new apartment, she replied negatively. She left Gyumri when she was in 10th grade and practically has no relatives there, besides there is“absolutely no job in Gyumri.” The situation in Arazap is not much better, but one can at least try to earn the daily bread through agriculture. In the case of obtaining a house in Gyumri, she would try to sell it and buy something in Arazap.
Susanna is willing to continue living in the Armavir marz (province), but if her son returns from the army and decides to go to Russia and establish himself there then she would not be against the idea of migrating.
After about ten minutes of speaking with the woman about her potential future, the reality of Susanna having to somehow figure out a way to get through the winter and spring until her son returned from the army reached the forefront of issue. She called us, with the hopes of raising the issue and hoping that “someone might listen and help with something.”
Armenia has had a disaster zone for 26 years and thousands of people still do not have homes, despite the fact that USSR Prime Minister Nikolai Rizhkov in 1988 promised to fully rebuild the damaged cities in two years. In Gyumri, there is a street named after Rizhkov, and in 2008, for some reason, he was given the honor of a National Hero of Armenia. Despite the promises given by the various authorities in power, until today, there are numerous people who live in difficult conditions in Gyumri, while there are people who have “moved” the disaster zone to various parts of Armenia, in particular, to the village of Arazap, situated 40km from Yerevan.
Video in Armenian only: