Armenian authorities commit to repaying mortgages for families of Karabakh residents killed in 44-day war

During negotiations with the Council for the Protection of the Nagorno-Karabakh People’s Rights, the Armenian government has promised to take on the repayment of the mortgages for the families of soldiers and officers killed in the 2020 war who purchased apartments using certificates from the Nagorno-Karabakh government.

These are families from the regions of Nagorno-Karabakh that came under the control of Azerbaijan as a result of the 2020 war, including Hadrut, Kashatagh, and Karvachar Districts, human rights defender Artak Beglaryan told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.

“About 230 families from those districts ended up in Armenia after 2020. The government of Artsakh (the self-designation of Nagorno-Karabakh, – note of the ‘Caucasian Knot’) handed over to the families the certificates for the purchase of housing. Eighty-three families purchased housing in Armenia. After the forced displacement of the people of Artsakh in September 2023, the Artsakh government, for objective reasons, did not pay the loans to Armenian banks under the mentioned certificates. As a result, the banks began to demand payments from the families of the deceased soldiers and officers, threatening to take away their housing. The Artsakh government was supposed to pay the loans within twenty years. Public and human rights organizations sounded the alarm. All our appeals to the Armenian government were ignored. Then we joined forces with the Council for the Protection of the Rights of the People of Artsakh. This may be called an example that success has been achieved thanks to solidarity and consolidation of efforts,” Artak Beglaryan stated.

When speaking about the other families who did not have time to use their housing certificates, human rights defender has noted that their certificates were invalidated by the Armenian government and those families only have to re-participate in the Armenian government’s housing programme for refugees.

The human rights defender has emphasized that “the families of the soldiers and officers killed in the Karabakh wars of Nagorno-Karabakh in Armenia do not enjoy any benefits or social categories assigned to them, and within the framework of the housing support programme they are on the general lists, which is fundamentally wrong.”

A son of Vaid Sahakyan was killed in the 44-day war of 2020. After Azerbaijan established control over the Hadrut District in the autumn of 2020, the Sahakyan family ended up in Armenia and purchased housing there with the housing certificate handed over to them.

“The fact that the Armenian government agreed to take on payments to the banks was reported to us verbally, but at the level of the Deputy Prime Minister. However, all the families are supposed to accept a condition: they are to accept Armenian citizenship. But since there is no written decision, they did not specify the time period for accepting citizenship. As I understand the situation, many refugees already have citizenship, and others do not object, just so as not to end up on the street,” Vaid Sahakyan told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.

Arina Dadayan from the Hadrut District of Nagorno-Karabakh lost her son in the 44-day war. The woman purchased housing in Armenia with a housing certificate issued by the Nagorno-Karabakh government. Arina Dadayan hopes that the Armenian government will confirm its decision in writing, because not a single family of fallen soldiers and officers is able to pay off loans to the banks.

This was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 16, 2025 at 02:28 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.