Khramort villagers treat it premature to return home from evacuation

In recent days, the situation on the contact line near the village of Khramort has been calm; several families have returned to the village, but agrarian works can't be performed, the administration of the Askeran District of Nagorno-Karabakh has reported. Life in the village is too dangerous as long as Azerbaijani militaries are stationed nearby, villagers believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 8, due to shelling, Khramort villagers were evacuated. After March 15, they began returning to their homes, but on March 24, Nagorno-Karabakh announced that Azerbaijani militaries had violated the contact line in the Askeran District; and women and children were evacuated from the communities of Parukh and Khramort.

Gegam Stepanyan, the Ombudsperson of Nagorno-Karabakh, has noted that "in order to return to Khramort, the villagers have the right to demand security guarantees so that there are no threats pronounced from loudspeakers, no shelling from mortars and no forced evacuation."

The situation on the contact line near Khramort has been calm in recent days, but people "are not sure that it's permanent," said Anush Arakelyan, the principal of the local school. "The presence of Russian peacemakers in the village gives some hope that peaceful life will be ensured, but still we need something more than speculations," she has stated.

After evacuation from Khramort, the family of Kristina Mkrtchyan settled in a Stepanakert suburb at their relatives, in an old house that needs repair. The family has three children. According to Kristina, Khramort villagers will feel safe only after Azerbaijani militaries are removed away from the village.