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Today, January 26, marks the 29th anniversary of the self-defense battles in the Artsakh village of Karin Tak, which fell under the control of Azerbaijan during the 2020 war.

For the first time in 29 years, the anniversary of the heroic battles and victory was celebrated not in the village close to the fortress town of Shushi, but in the Yerablur Military Pantheon in Yerevan.

Residents of Karin Tak and Shushi still cannot come to terms with the situation or find answers to their questions.

Mayor of Shushi Artsvik Sargsyan today visited the military cemetery along with many other Artsakh people to pay tribute to the fallen soldiers.

“None of us could imagine that the impregnable fortress would fall. I thought that the backbone of the Azerbaijanis would be broken in Karin Tak, which would become a bloody gorge for them for the second time. But the army was withdrawn from the area for unknown reasons and there were only 35 residents left in Karin Tak. There were casualties. The defense had to be strengthened there, the artillery had to be employed, whereas the army and the artillery were withdrawn. It’s not still clear what happened. I believe that we should do everything possible to move on to its liberation. Azerbaijanis have never lived in Karin Tak,” he said, stressing the need to raise the spirits of people in every possible way and to be united.

According to the information provided to him, the Azerbaijani military are destroying all Armenian sanctuaries and graves in Shushi and Karin Tak.

"A monument was erected in the village on the occasion of the January 26 victory, but they [Azeris] destroyed it, throwing its pieces into a hole," he said.