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Shushi/Shusha, living in a symbol

ita eng

14 May 2012

A picture story by Elias Pinteri on the city of Shushi/Shusha, in Nagorno-Karabakh. The portrait of a city ravaged by the war, the stories of its citizens looking to an uncertain future

Entrance of Shushi/Shusha — A soviet monument, damaged during the war.

Flags — A street in Shushi/Shusha.

Drawings — A map of Armenia and Karabakh united, drawn by a child from Shushi/Shusha.

Far away so close — The view toward Azerbaijan from a minaret of a Shushi/Shusha mosque.

T-72 — A T-72 tank used by Karabakh soldiers to liberate Shushi/Shusha stand over the empty parking which is used every 8th May when celebrating the liberation day of the city.

Flats — When the Azerbaijanis were forced away from Shushi, they left many apartments empty. Only part of them have been reoccupied afterwards.

Ruins — Going to work across empty old buildings.

Wedding ring — A sculpture by sculptor Babunz Alik in Stepanakert, promoting wedding.

A wedding couple poses on the way to the Ghazanchetsots cathedral. During the war the cathedral was used by Azerbaijani forces as a safe store for Grad missiles used against Stepanakert.

Wedding — As incentive for repopulation the NKR government launched a Birth Encouragement Program offering each couple approximately 1000 dollars at their wedding. An extra is paid for each new-born child and a special prize, a house, is given for the 6th child if all children are aged under 18.

Recycling — A worker welding metal. Many materials are recycled from the old buildings.

Resting — Outside the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral.

Children — Playing time inside the old mosque of Shushi/Shusha.

Giochi — In un piccolo parco giochi di Shushi/Shusha.

Jenia Adyan — Jenia Adyan spends the day in her favourite square in Shushi. She has been living in Shushi since the liberation in 1992, before the war she used to live in the capital Stepanakert.

Djonik Tevosyan — Djonik Tevosyan in his apartment showing a picture of the massacre of Sumgait in 1988 when he escaped from Azerbaijan. He explained, with eyes full of tears, that he knew several people who were killed there more than twenty years ago and keeps his memory alive with many books full of pictures and texts documenting those horrible facts.

Hovhannes Baghramyan — Hovhannes Baghramyan sits in his house adorned with wallpaper representing Persian landscapes. He likes to write patriotic poems and remains active because having nothing to do is a cemetery for the living. He’s Armenian but previously lived in Iran and, while his 6 sons are living in different parts of the world, he moved alone to Shushi/Shusha after retirement because he believes that the salvation of Karabakh depends on its repopulation.

Shushanik Avanessov — Shushanik Avanessov, in her kitchen. Originally from Georgia she moved to Armenia because her husband found work in Gyumri. After he died because of health problems she was kidnapped by a refugee from Baku who became, after persuading her, her second husband. On his decision, because of the better climate, they moved to Shushi with their two children. The second husband died and the children are now serving in the military. Well regarded for her ability to read fortunes in coffee grounds, she is now the cleaner in the local internet café.

Larissa Harutyunyan — Larissa Harutyunyan, a former radio operator and mother of 4 children, sits on the bed of her daughter who works in a puppet theatre in Stepanakert. Larissa was born in the Martakert region and she moved, after the marriage, to Sarov, a small farming village not far from the frontline. In 1992 the Azeri forces bombed the village against the expectations because there were rumours that it would not be targeted. Surprised and scared she escaped with her slippers, one of his sons was three years old and was hit by shrapnel in the head but luckily survived. They arrived to Stepanakert where they lived for a while in a crowded school before moving to Shushi after the liberation the same year. There they changed houses three times before her husband was injured a few months later and they went to Russia in order to cure him. He died and they had to bury him there in 1994. Soon after, without knowing what to do, they came back to Shushi and they survive thanks to a war pension.

Albert Kachaturyan e Larisa Gazaryan — Albert Kachaturyan and Larisa Gazaryan are well known in Shushi. They have never stopped teaching, even during the war. For their scholastic activity they both received a medal in 2005 and 2006. Albert's grandfather, Arsen, was the director of the magnificent nearby school that now lies in ruins. When the tension with the Azeris was building up during 1988 and fewer and fewer students were attending the classes, they insisted that every day the school's bell should ring. In September 1988 they were among the last people to leave Shushi, escorted by the Russians while a crowd of 600 people threatened to burn down their house. They managed to exchange their house with one in Stepanakert, where they continued teaching, and to get 32 bags of their books from Shushi when the Azeris allowed them to return to the city to take what they left in their homes. Four years later, in 1992, on the same day of the liberation they came back and rebuilt a house near the old one, unfortunately shelled a few days before, and Albert became the director of the school.

Slavik Hayrapetyan — Slavik Hayrapetyan stand in his store. Until 1988 in Baku he used to be a construction site manager. He managed to escape to Yerevan by plane with his wife and took part in the war where he lost his arm because of the impact of a Grad missile. After the liberation he obtained a house in Shushi where he opened his first small shop and after some years with a careful administration he managed to open a second and bigger one.

Officer — An officer of the Armed Forces of Armenia in his apartment in Shushi. He studied in the most important military academy and took part to many NATO War Games. He travelled a lot. He tells that to dress the Armenian or the NKR uniform is de facto the same: there is no distinction of roles. His wife and his children are living in Yerevan.

Ilona Hovhannisyan — Ilona Hovhannisyan in her atelier at home. She just finished the University and she struggles to find a job. Many of her drawings and paintings express the fear of a war and the subtly menacing presence of Azerbaijan. One of her brightest pieces of work is painted on top of the family kitchen and it is called “Quietness” where she describes the peace as forming into the family and expanding into the world.

Saro Saryan — Saro Saryan, after a day of work at NKR Rescue Service, stands on the way to his home on the old Persian Road, which hundred years ago was the major trade route, connecting Shushi to Persia. Escaped from Baku in 1988, he joined the fight and was wounded several times during the war. He is currently the Chairman of the NGO of the Nagorno-Karabakh refugees.

Davit — Davit in his house where, together with his mother and his brother, he moved in 1996 following the repopulation program. He is part of the NKR Special Forces and chose to extend the two-year mandatory military service because of the good salary. If living conditions get worse he will move from Shushi.

Karina Davidova — Karina Davidova stands in the recently opened Shushi Grand Hotel where she works. A few months earlier she was visiting NKR with her parents, and decided to stay in Stepanakert. She spoke good English and was lucky to find this well paid job as a receptionist for the hotel.

Armen Assrian — Armen Assrian in his shop while copying a pair of shoes from an Italian catalogue. Armen loves football and in 2010 he and his team won the Shushi championship. After escaping from Baku with his Armenian shoemaker master, he worked several years in Russia. Back in Armenia life was not too easy in Yerevan, so he moved to Shushi where he is the only shoemaker and has a large a market. Unfortunately in the present conditions of the country he can’t imagine a promising future.

Armen and Cristina Rakedjan — Armen and Cristina Rakedjan (Popa) on their sofa in Shushi with their 40 day-old daughter. They decided to marry in Ghazanchetsots cathedral in 2010 after having met each other on Facebook a few months earlier. He is originally a French citizen and she is Romanian but both, when they discovered their Armenian origin, felt they had to learn Armenian and go back to their homeland. Armen arrived earlier, in 2004, following the repopulation program, but discovered that it was mostly directed to Armenian citizens moving to NKR.

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