Families of Artsakh victims demand government efforts to move their bodies to Armenia
Families of those killed in the September 2023 hostilities in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) gathered outside the Armenian government on Thursday, demanding efforts to exhume their remains and to transfer them from Stepanakert to Armenia.
One of them, Borik Arzumanyan, whose son Artur was killed on 19 September 2023, said the Armenian and Artsakh governments as well as the ICRC had not responded to their requests for the exhumation of their children's bodies.
“If the government fails to take action, I will have to go to Goris, cross the border and ask the Azeris to allow me to transfer my son’s body to Armenia,” the man added.
Bella Galstayan, the sister of Sasun and David Avanesyans, said former Artsakh officials had agreed with the Azerbaijani authorities on the exhumation and relocation of their relatives’ bodies, but the latter cancelled the deal, without giving any reason.
“We are imploring the Armenian government to help transfer the bodies of our relatives. They were killed, while their bodes remained captive,” she said.