Residents of Yerevan sign up as army volunteers

Yerevan residents quit their jobs and studies to go to war zone as volunteers. Many military registration and enlistment offices (commissariats) refuse to call or offer to wait for summons; in such case, people join the "Yerkrapa" Volunteer Union, Yerevan residents told the "Caucasian Knot".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that combat actions have been going on in the Karabakh conflict zone since September 27. The martial law is in force in Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan.

The 25-year-old son of Liparit Petrosyan, a construction engineer, on the very first day of the fighting, without waiting for the announcement of mobilization, went to the commissariat aiming to be sent to the front. "My son has left his studies and work in order to defend his homeland. He is the only breadwinner in the family, but we didn't dissuade him, and we could not, if even we wanted to. I myself, at the beginning of the Artsakh movement, when I was 21, enrolled in a group of volunteers and went through the whole war," Mr Petrosyan told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

A 25-year-old son of Khachatur Mikaelyan received summons from the commissariat two days ago. According to the father, from the very first day, his son, together with his army friends, knocked down the commissariat's thresholds to sign up as volunteers for the front.

"He didn't even bother to wait for us to collect foodstuffs for the voyage. We didn't even discuss at home whether he should go or not. Of course, the mother is worried; she listens to frontline reports on radio and TV all day. But today it's impossible to find anyone who wants to evade mobilization," Mr Mikaelyan told the "Caucasian Knot".

Ovsep Gurgenyan, a 31-year-old builder, told the "Caucasian Knot" that he twice tried to go to the front as a volunteer. "On the first day I went to Stepanakert, but there I was told that there was no need for volunteers. After returning to Yerevan, I tried to sign up for the front through the 'Yerkapa' Volunteer Union, but even there they told me to wait. I didn't receive summons from the military commissariat, and am looking forward to the honour of defending my homeland," he has stated.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 2, 2020 at 03:11 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.