I returned to Yerevan from Syunik at night. My head was ‘heavy’…

Every day from laying your head on the pillow and before going to sleep remember, on that day,
What have you done for your nation?
General Andranik
BY MARINA KHACHATRYAN, MD

I returned to Yerevan from Syunik at night. My head was heavy. Thoughts were spinning left and right, disrupting my struggle to get some rest and get rid of my fatigue.
It was the spring of 2021. I received an alert that Aravus, a border village located in Tegh community of Syunik Governorate is in danger. [Syunik Region is in southern Armenia that connects the Armenian state with Iran and secures a vital outlet to The Persian Gulf and wider Middle East – Editor] The enemy had gathered several hundred troops in the mountains surrounding the village. The Armenian side did not deploy troops there. And only a group of volunteers, consisting of 5 people, protected the border of the village, and therefore also the border of the Republic of Armenia.
It was the period when the enemy was advancing unhindered into the territory of Armenia, capturing the Black Lake, Ishkhanasar, and taking captive the encircled Armenian soldiers.

I immediately headed to Aravus with my fellow activist.
It turned out that the previous day, the enemy had captured the shepherd of the village, whose flock, as usual disobeying the shepherd, had crossed the territory now being under the enemy’s control.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VsJM7YfHlY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqXNGLM_A2s&t=278s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZpElO54K2o&t=11s
It is important to note that around 160 hectares of pasture from the Tegh community is currently illegally occupied by the Azerbaijani Army. The indigenous Armenian villagers are deprived of the means to farm and maintain their existence. Almost all of them have sold their cattle and “drag their existence” only with the help of meager state benefits.
As to the captured shepherd, I should mention that, thanks to the efforts of the former village chief of Aravus and 5 Armenian young men protecting the border, it became possible to return the shepherd with a swollen and bruised left eye and blood on his head. The herd of animals was also returned.

We reached Aravus late in the evening. It was dark. Heavy rain had made the ruined road leading to the village almost impassable. Somehow, we got there. We were hosted in the house of one of the villagers. Two of the border guards approached. During the conversation, I decided to get acquainted with the situation personally.
With a Soviet-era SUV, through complete darkness and mud, we reached the only border guard post built by volunteers, located only 100 meters from residential houses. The boys found an old, doorless small log cabin and placed it there, they dug a trench with their own means. A wood fireplace was placed right at the entrance of the log cabin, the chimney of which was damaged and the smoke completely filled all the corners of the log cabin.
It was here that I found out that the Armenian armed forces do not actually protect the state border of Armenia. There were no built posts, no soldiers, no weapons.
Meanwhile, the enemy who captured the Armenian mountains had built more than a dozen posts, equipped with the latest weaponry, in each of which several dozen enemy soldiers stationed, armed to the teeth.
The volunteers decided to treat us with potatoes, however, while cutting the first potato, their comrade in the valley radioed that an enemy sabotage group had infiltrated.

In an instant, I noticed, I was alone in the cabin. Everyone seemed to turn into wolves and scattered in the darkness, descending into the impassable thickets of the valley, which, however, had become familiar to them.
I looked left and right. There was no weapon. A skewer with a bent end was lying on the ground in front of the stove. “Not bad, for a weapon” I thought and “armed myself.”
There was no fear, no confusion. There was only the cosmic darkness, the peacefully falling rain, my “weapon” with a bent tip and me. Even the moon had gone to sleep, taking the crickets and arguments with it to rest.
I don’t remember how much time passed. With my “weapon” in hand, I stood guard at the entrance to our only shelter, a smoky shack. It was my fortress and I was its only defender at that moment.
When the boys returned, the fire in the oven had already gone out, and I, like a bad hostess, had not cooked the potatoes.
The enemy was pushed back.

The boys covered with mud went to wash. A small water container was placed next to the hut, from which they took a glass and poured water on each other’s hands.
The guys guarding the border were not even supplied with water.
They took me to the village, they returned to the position to protect the peace of all of us at the cost of their lives.
The next day I returned to Yerevan and made a big noise.
Of course, the government and “opposition” propaganda machine called me a “baseless noisemaker”, “slanderer”, “Facebook ‘likes’ hungry” in its media and internet domains. But the Ministry of Defense mobilized.
Today, the border of Tegh community of Syunik governorate is protected by the Republic of Armenia Armed Forces. We have more than a dozen equipped positions. Beautiful, comfortable cabins are placed in the positions. There is drinking water.

Recently, a khachkar was installed in one of the posts.
Every time I visit the boys, while enjoying the coffee, they make (the most immortal coffee in the world), I remember my first visit to this border, my bent skewer, the damaged chimney of the stove, the moon that betrayed us, the pouring rain indifferent to everything and the boys’ muddy hands.
Despite the extensive work done, I am still not calm about the security of the borders of our motherland.
We were informed by the unmanned aerial vehicle that the enemy had gathered at the same border with a terrorist battalion, numbering thousands, which are armed with the latest armor, has accumulated tanks and other long-range weapons.
We have a lot of work to do to ensure our safety. And we will do that work by hard work, by asking or forcing the state structures to carry out their duty.

Let them say that Marina is “a loudmouth, tough and uncompromising woman” but strengthen the borders of our homeland. I don’t need words of praise and romanticism; I need a safe and strong homeland.
I am sure that this demand is shared all our Armenians.
P.S. Children, women and elderly people live in the border villages. They are by no means going to leave their ancestral land. But today they are defenseless, helpless and lost. However, I will tell about this in my next communique.
“Had every Armenian not think only about himself,
We could have averted a major part of the tragedies.”
General Andranik Ozanyan
1910’s

About the author: Dr. Marina Khachatryan, MD is a practicing General and Pediatric Neurosurgeon; a Member of WINS, WSSFN. At the height of 44-Day anti-Armenian terrorist attacks by Azerbaijan-Turkey and ISIS in Fall 2020, she served as a Neurosurgeon in the Healthcare Dept. of Artsakh Military Hospital in Stepanakert, Tigran Mets 8a, Republic of Artsakh. Dr. Khachatryan is the founding director of “Healthy Society” – a Non-Governmental Organization. Her artistic skills include piano, singing, and theater. Other skills include Chess, Intellectual games, computer, sports (BJJ), and gardening. She is an advocate of the formation of Armenian Citizen Army throughout Armenia and Artsakh. Academic awards and honors include Certificate for Excellent Case Presentation (Salzburg, Austria- February 2016); Diploma of Honor of YSMU (March 2014); Diploma with Honor of Yerevan State Medical University After M. Heratsi (June 2004); Diploma For 1st Place Winner of The University Olympiad, Internal Diseases (Yerevan, Armenia, June 2003). Since 2006, she has been a Member of Armenian Association of Neurological Surgeons. In 1998-2001, she served as a Member of Students’ parliament of YSMU. She is the author of numerous scientific publications and scholarly articles. Since March 2019 she has been a Neurosurgeon at the “Mikaelyan” Healthcare Institute of Surgery in Yerevan, Armenia. She is currently pursuing her Master Degree in Political Science at the Public Administration Academy of the Republic of Armenia.