Martakert Celebrates 23rd Anniversary of Liberation

STEPANAKERT (Armradio) — Martakert is celebrating the 23th anniversary of liberation today. The day started with a military march. Authorities and citizens of Martakert and surrounding regions laid flowers at the monument of glory and visited the museum of memory of the victims of 1992-1994 military actions.

A concert featuring a group of singers from Armenia will take place at the culture house of the city later today. The author of the initiative is Shushan Petrosyan, a long-standing fiend of Martakert.

People in the city say, however, that their feelings and memories are connected with the developments of April 2016 rather than the events of 23 years ago.

Much has changed in Martakert in the course of the past 23 years. People say many found nothing but ruins when they returned to their homes after the liberation. But the city has been reconstructed ever since.

The events of April this year brought about new destructions, fifteen houses were completely ruined, more than 100 were damaged. The reconstruction works are nearing end now, Mayor Mikael Gyurjyan says.

Many of Martakert residents never returned after the exile of 1992. The biggest wish of those who live in the city, who have experienced the difficulties of surviving in a city raising form ruins, have faced the horror of the April war is to see all their fellow-citizens return to Martakert.

They dream of building a country that will make repatriation inevitable.

Lusine Avanesyan