Epress.am News from Armenia
Khachik Khachatryan, resident of Tairov village in the Armavir Province of Armenia, has 7 sons and a daughter. The father, however, is refusing to send his sons to serve in the army, Armenian “Hraparak” daily writes in its latest issue.
“We get frequent visits from the military commissariat. They bother us saying we have to send our sons to the commissariat to undergo a medical examination. I refuse; none of my kids will go into the army, not until we get some sort of support from the state. [RA Minister of Defense[ Seyran Ohanyan should think what needs to be done for these kids. Come time to enlist for service, they are here on the spot. However, never do they consider some form of support to the family,” Khachik Khachatryan said in conversation with “Hraparak.”
The large family lives in a 9-meter trailer home, on someone else's land. Khachik Khachatryan is the only breadwinner in the house; he said they will soon be evicted and have nowhere to go: “The land owner told us to move out since he wants to start constrcution on the land. He said to leave as soon as possible, but I told him we had nowhere to go and I had to think of something first, then we'd leave. I'm the only one who works in the family. I'm a contractor; sometimes there is job to do, other times there isn't. My eldest son is 25 years old; he's been undergoing kidney dialysis for the last 8 years. My wife suffers from deep vein thrombosis; my other son has eye and ear problems.”
The family of 11 receives only 60, 000 AMD ($ 125) allowance from the state: “There is nothing to be done; it's impossible to survive on salary because every other day 4 000 AMD ($8) goes to my son alone. He must take a taxi in the mornings to get to the hospital and receive dialysis. He is unable to use public transport. Sometimes, when he goes with his mother, they somehow get home by public transportation.”
Last year, the family found out their 13-year-old son Movses had ear and eye related problems: “I took him to the hospital for a check-up. They said he had problems; we have the reference at home. The kid had to miss school due to his illness, and as a result he was held back. As for the grade retention, Movses said he was not going to repeat the course, and we allowed him not to. Nor could he. Neither his eyes, nor his ears were cured,” the father told.
Khachik Khachatryan has turned to both the government and the regional administration with a request to provide his family with a house or some space. The officials promised to respond in a letter, which, however, has not yet come.