Marina Hayrapetyan is preparing to move the family back to Artsakh despite the uncertainty that awaits them.

They resettled in Armenia during the war but never reconciled with life there.

Mrs. Hayrapetyan was busy loading the car with whatever they could to resume some semblance of normal life in Stepanakert.

"Today we are going to our house in Stepanakert to see what is going on, so that we can come to get the children in a few days,” she says.

Four women and a young granddaughter moved from Stepanakert to Armenia on October 3. Given that the situation in Artsakh is relatively calm, they’ve decided to return home.  

Mrs. Hayrapetyan says that her mother is in poor health and doesn’t know that their house had been utterly destroyed by Azerbaijani military strikes. The old lady insisted on returning.

Mrs. Hayrapetyan wants to observe the situation with her own eyes, to see where they will live in Artsakh, or if it’s possible to restore their house.

"Stepanakert is my home. We must go and live there so that the Turks do not come. We have been fighting for that land for thirty years. My husband became disabled and his health suffered for that land. He has now come to take us back. It must be calm there, otherwise he wouldn’t have. Our boys are there too. It will be good,” she says.

Mrs. Hayrapetyan advises everyone to return to their homes so that Artsakh is not completely emptied of Armenians.

She says that they have faced difficulties in the past and that the current challenges can be overcome as well. overcome.

She’s worried that the situation is dividing people instead of uniting them.

"Please be united, be healthy, the war is not over," Mrs. Hayrapetyan said.

The family sees her off, hoping to be reunited in Artsakh in a few days.