‘My child did not know he was smiling at the Azerbaijani’: Artsakh exodus #19

Tatevik Khachatryan, a Stepanakert resident and a journalist at the Artsakh Public Radio, recalls her last program. She recalls her last guest on the radio and the topic they were discussing.

The radio program was broadcast on September 19; a few hours later, the war started.

“I left the grave of my cousin there, where he stands tall, dressed in military uniform. I know that not a single Azerbaijani will pass by his grave indifferently. I constantly think about whether the tombstone is still standing or not,” Tatevik Khachatryan tells Alpha News.

The next thing, which Tatevik cannot forget, happened when she was crossing the border to leave, when an Azerbaijani smiled at her child.

“The Azerbaijani spoke to my child and smiled. My child smiled back. It was painful for me. I will never forget it because my child did not know who he smiled at,” she says.