“
Thank you, thank you for taking this time over the Christmas weekend to listen to us!
".
At the end of the phone, Shant's voice trembles with emotion.
This 30-year-old lives in Marduni, a village 45 minutes from Stepanakert, the capital of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.
The young Armenian is worried.
For 15 days now, the Armenian enclave located in Azerbaijan has been isolated from the world by a hundred Azeri "
eco-activists
" - as they present themselves - who are blocking the Lachin corridor.
No car or truck has been circulating since December 12 on this vital axis where nearly 90% of the territory's supplies pass normally.
“
We can no longer find any fruit or vegetables.
Fresh produce has disappeared
, says Shant.
Yesterday, I went to a convenience store: there were 8 onions and a few garlics left, that's all.
The pasta is almost finished
”.
Read also“We must save the 120,000 Armenians of Artsakh!”
The humanitarian, who works for a local NGO, had to go to Yerevan to buy Christmas gifts for nearly 400 children aged 5 to 10 living in the area: "
Every year, we collect funds to comfort these children who see the bombs, shootings.
They need to smile so badly.
Not only can I no longer pass the corridor, but my car doesn't even start because I have run out of gas
”.
Finding nappies for her four-month-old baby was an adventure.
“
The first pharmacy didn't have one, neither did the second.
At the third, there was a package left
.
So the father of the family took the bare necessities, enough to last for a week, and left the rest for the next: “
We hold on like that here
”.
What about an airlift?
The brand new airport in Stepanakert is out of action as Azerbaijan has threatened to shoot down any plane that takes off or lands.
As a result, none of the 400 tons of food sent every day has reached Artsakh for 15 days.
Even cash is running out.
The authorities have encouraged residents to make their payments through bank transactions.
"It's hard to be away from my parents"
Sunday, December 25, several thousand demonstrators gathered in Stepanakert, the main city of Nagorny Kabarakh, to demand the restoration of the road.
“
The lack is not just food.
Families also found themselves separated
, pointed out to
Figaro
Hovhannès Gervorgyan, representative of the Republic of Artsakh in France
.
About 1100 people in Armenia, so 170 children, remained on the roads
”.
In Marduni, Shant supports two children aged 14 and 11, alone since their parents, who left for an uncle's funeral, were stranded in Armenia.
In the village, a network of solidarity has been created.
“
We sent the parents money to pay for the hotel and some clothes
says Shant.
The neighbors take care of the farm and the hens until they return.
Read alsoIn the Senate, intellectuals denounce Europe's indifference to Nagorno-Karabakh
Maral, 12, had gone to Yerevan with her mother for eye surgery.
The girl with strabismus was celebrating having “
brand new
” eyes, but she now lives with an acquaintance, while waiting to find her parents, on the other side of the border.
"
It's very hard to be away from them
," she tells
Le Figaro
in her slender voice .
His mother, a nurse, was able to cross the corridor
in extremis
to treat her patients, after long discussions at the
checkpoint
.
She herself was speaking to Armenian soldiers, who pleaded with Russian peacekeepers, who have been responsible for securing the Lachin Corridor since the 2020 ceasefire. She was eventually passed over for the necessity of the job , but without his daughter.
"
I prefer as much as she stays in Armenia
," confides the
mother from her village near Stepanakert.
Here, we lack everything.
At any time Baku can turn off the heating.
And then the road leading to the corridor is not guarded by Russian soldiers.
You never know what can happen
."
Next to the phone, her husband nods.
Maral, 12, and his companion Armine, who is hosting him during the blockage, pose in front of the UN representation in Yerevan.
Personal collection.
Maral filed a drawing in front of the UN in Yerevan, to denounce the blockade.
Personal collection.
A baby transferred by the Red Cross
A few days before the celebration of Christmas, which the Armenian Catholic Church celebrates on January 6, the isolation is even more cruel.
Stuck in Stepanakert, Biayna Sukhudyan will not see her daughter, who is studying in Austria, come just for the holidays.
“
I have no chance of seeing her.
My youngest daughter had a successful interview, and I can't congratulate her
,” she says, swallowing back tears.
Biayna is head of pediatric neurology in Yerevan, and was on the road at the hospital in Stepanakert.
She is alarmed by the shortages of antibiotics and painkillers.
“
I fear a lot for child care
,” she breathes.
Normally, around eight babies are transferred to Yerevan every month for further care.
Only one was able to be transferred on December 24, on board a Red Cross vehicle.
“
This baby was seriously ill with an infection and had a high fever.
Every minute counted, but we had to keep him for another week during the negotiations.
We had neither the means nor the specialists to take care of it here
”, she denounces.
A patient prevented from being transferred to Yerevan hospital has already died.
“
Today, six patients in critical condition are waiting to be transferred.
Their fate may be the same
,” insists Hovhannès Gevorgyan.
“It will last at least all winter”
In the parish of the village of Marduni, Father Hovhan organizes special prayer vigils to ask for an end to this situation of anguish.
Each time, the 500-seat church is full.
“
We don't see any help coming from anywhere in the world.
Apart from France.
She's the only one who watches us and worries about us.
We really want to thank the French
,” says the priest.
On December 23, Emmanuel Macron called on his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliev to allow "
free movement
" between the Nagorny Karabakh region and Armenia.
"
But words are not enough,
" insists Father Hovhan
.
God is the only one who can still help us.
We have no other hope from the outside than our prayers
”.
The Armenian authorities, like the inhabitants, know that the situation can last as long as there is no international pressure.
The Azerbaijani authorities, arrested by the intermediary of the Russians, turned a deaf ear.
The "
activists
" have made known their desire to prolong the blockade.
“
They simply let it be known that they agreed to reopen on condition that they control all the passages
, explains to
Figaro
the Minister of State and Head of Civil Protection of Artsakh, Ruben Vardanyan.
We have enough for at least the whole winter, that's clear.
We are preparing for it
”.
In mid-December, Azerbaijan cut off the
pipeline
supplying Nagorno-Karabakh for nearly three days, when temperatures hovered around zero degrees.
“
Azerbaijan wants to destroy us, they want this land without its people.
They want us to die of hunger, of cold.
That's what I think
, asserts Armine, an Armenian humanitarian
.
If they wanted to consider us part of their territory, how would they treat their own citizens?
It is nonsense
”.
Before hanging up, Shant, the father of Marduni, slips us a last word: “
I want to say thank you again.
Anyone from the outside who spends a few minutes chatting and worrying about us is very touching.
Thank you
”.
