For me, the homeland begins and ends with Artsakh – Arthur Khachents

Any Artsakh person should understand that he or she could be the last generation that speaks the Artsakh dialect, singer Arthur Khachents told Alpha News. Speaking about Artsakh, Khachents pronounces every word with tenderness and great longing.

“After losing Hadrut, when I graduated from the conservatory, I founded the Haiegen studio, in which I had 2 rooms. My friends and I are still working in the studio. I named one of the rooms Hadrut, and the other one Shushi. Today we actually have no land in Artsakh, and it is very difficult to fight for it when you are not in this territory. But there are other weapons in the form of voice, guitar, speech, and dialect, which, unfortunately, is the last thing left from Artsakh. You are an Artsakh person, not because you brought a flag and coat of arms with you from Artsakh or because you honor our fallen boys. Any Artsakh person should understand that he or she could be the last generation that speaks the Artsakh dialect. They should not mix or lose their dialect, especially in the Diaspora. We are people of Artsakh if we speak the Artsakh dialect,” he says.

The singer notes that Arthur Khachents is just a face and a name with which he can represent and preserve Artsakh.

“I live my life for Artsakh, for speaking our dialect, for singing. I lost Arthur Khachents, and I consider myself Artsakh. Arthur Khachents is just a face and a name with which I can represent Artsakh, which is a great honor for me. For me, the homeland begins with Artsakh, goes all over the world, and ends with Artsakh. For me, Armenia is a pied-à-terre where I live and create. They say you only lost your place of birth, and you can consider Armenia your home, but no, I can’t. I can’t live without self-respect and identity. This is not mine, because I am Artsakh, and Artsakh has not lived this way,” Khachents notes.