By Gayaneh Sargsyan

No longer able to pay his rent, 21-year-old Syrian-Armenian Kevork has been living in the security room of the auto repair shop where he works in Vanadzor.

Hetq wrote about the trials and tribulations of Kevork’s family last year, chronicling how some members had left Armenia for Turkey in search of work after fleeing their hometown of Aleppo.

The first to leave Armenia for Istanbul were Kevork’s two sisters, who found work at a plastics company run by an Armenia. Soon after, they were joined by Kevork’s older brother and his wife.

Kevork’s brother, a jeweler, couldn’t find work in the field. He couldn’t even find a menial labor job.

Kevork and his mother stayed in Armenia, determined to make a go of it.

“My dream was to settle here. I want to stay in the homeland. To have a home here. We no longer want to go to foreign countries. We’ve placed out hope on god,” Kevork’s mother Hayganoush said during her last conversation with Hetq.

Kevork says that his mother recently fell ill and that they were forced to spend quite a bit of money for medical treatment.

“Here, in Armenia, you have to work in the summer and, just like ants, store it away to get you through the winter,” says Kevork.

When I ask Kevork what his mother thought of his decision to vacate the apartment and move into the auto shop, he laughs and says, “I never told her. I just did it.”

“When she found out, she was against it. I can’t talk to her about such things. She’ll get mad. But I have my plans and to carry them out I have to sacrifice a bit,” Kevork adds.

While Kevork doesn’t earn much as an auto repairman, he says the first priority is to establish a good reputation in Lori, the province in which Vanadzor is located.

And, despite the hardships, Kevork remains upbeat about staying in Armenia. It has to do with living in the homeland.

There is also another, perhaps more important factor involved, the final wish of his father, now deceased.

“It was my beloved father’s desire. The first time I came to Yerevan, he was still back in Syria. He said he wanted to sell all his assets and come to Armenia. Given that I have work and am able to work, I manage. I will endure all to stay here. It’s my homeland after all,” Kevork says, adding that he too will have to leave if things don’t improve.

For now, Kevork rules out going to Turkey.

“I worked in Turkey, but I don’t like it when many tell me to become a Muslim. There’s a triple strike against you there. You’re an Armenia, a Christian, and you’re from Syria. You have to keep your mouth shut. You have to work on the sly since they don’t give you a work permit. It’s not a comfortable life. Sure, the money is good, but it’s not all about the money.”

Kevork, with nine years’ experience under his belt as an auto repairman, says he has no desire to go to Turkey and work in some factory. His profession is everything to him.

The young man says he’ll return to Syria rather than going to Turkey. He’s heard that the family business and house are still standing in Aleppo.

“My overriding aim is for my family to live peacefully and for us to be together. We have to start from the beginning; to have a house and a family. If we remain like we are now, life doesn’t have any meaning,” Kevork says.