HE WILL RETURN WHEN WE WIN

The President of Artsakh, Bishop Pargev, the legendary military commander Karen Jalavyan and many others say that Hakob Harutyunyan defended the Homeland heroically and selflessly, did not retreat even at the most crucial moment, fought to the last bullet, the last heartbeat and fell eith the weapon in his hand. Arayik Harutyunyan had come to Armenia, more precisely to the village of Myasnikyan, where Hakob Harutyunyan was born, to attend the funeral of a brave volunteer and present him with the Golden Eagle Order before leaving for his final resting place.

“My son could not stay in Russia when there was a war in the Homeland, and I was not surprised when he returned to Armenia and volunteered for the Homeland Defense Army,” says the hero’s mother, Mrs. Karine. She is trying to swallow the tears and be brave, she is trying to mix hardness with the trembling voice and change the pain into strength, revenge or pride.

– In a word, I did not even try to keep my son from the duty to defend the Homeland with weapons, because the Homeland is more expensive than everything. Because my son has always said that there are two great loves in the world, the first is the Homeland, the second is the Mother.

I want to ask if the Homeland is more precious than your son’s life, but I look at the young woman’s gray hair, the pain in her eyes, and the words get stuck in my throat.

“Who but my son?” asks the hero’s mother. She asks me. I nod. And she goes on to say, “My son has always been the best, he has been unique since he was born.”

“From the day of his birth?” I repeat, hoping that the conversation will change course and we will gain some time before the fateful day when Hakob Harutyunyan voluntarily joined the Shushi defense group and wrote the last story of his life on the outskirts of Karintak.

– My son was so capable, playful and lively. He walked at the age of nine months and uttered at the age of one. Hhe had an inexplicable charm and attracted everyone’s love and attention. Our family of 15 had many children, my four sons and my daughter, my children, but Hakob had a special status. He was Grandma’s favorite, the uncle’s friend, the joy of us all. Instead of children’s tales, he listened to the stories of the genocide from his great-grandmother, instead of watching cartoons, he read history books and wrote patriotic poems. He was absolutely excellent at school, he was involved in sports, he was a wrestler and he wanted to enter the physical education institute, but after graduating from school he unexpectedly announced that he was going to Ryazan to study at a military college.

– It was written in Hakob’s biography that he dropped out of military school.

– My son studied at Ryazann Higher Military College for almost four years. During the fourth year, a Tajik officer told my son during an argument that the Turks had not completed the genocide in vain, and that my son had beaten the officer. Another was expelled from school at the same time, but my son was told to apologize and continue his studies. Instead of apologizing, Hakob left the university.

– Did he return to the Homeland?

– No, my family and I lived in Ryazan at that time with my son. Hakob started doing different things. He was a talented guy, no business failed. Then we moved to Lukhvitsma, where I taught dance, had a dance troupe, my husband played the clarinet in our band, and my son wrestled with schoolchildren. And he was waiting for the right moment to return to his homeland forever. He said, “Mom, I am torn between you and the Homeland.” He often came to Armenia, and in recent years he has been to Armenia more than to Russia. He had a house on this planet, our ancestral home in the village of Myasnikyan, which he loved immensely, and we built a house in Russia that resembled a village house. But that did not help either, Hakob was not cut off from Armenia. In Russia we had no shortage of anything materially, but all my son’s dreams were connected with Armenia. He wanted to open a sports school in the Homeland, to train children…. He once said, “Mom, if it suddenly happens that I leave this world before you, please, you will hand me over to the land of our village.” I complied with his request, rejecting the offer to take him to Yerablur.

– He said during the war?

– No, in Russia. He was constantly involved in some stories, colliding with foreigners. There was no fear, there was one truth, one justice, which was ready to confirm the most dangerous steps. But he always came out unscathed and victorious. SHakob could die in the war. He said I was going to win and come. I was more worried about my brother’s soldier son, I prayed for him. I was sure that Hakobs would win and come back.

– And when talking on the phone, did he not say how the situation was?

– My son was sure that we would win. He left victorious. He was fighting in the detachment of Artsakh hero Karen Jalavyan. The heroic commander spoke respectfully about my son, said that my son should give a conscious, willing life. He fought for the liberation of Artsakh.

Only during our last phone conversation did I feel any strange tones in my son’s voice. Shall I say sad, sad or anxious … He said, sorry, mom, you went through a very difficult journey with me. If he used to exchange a few words from the battlefield, he spoke at length that day. When I said, first talk to your daughters, then to me, he said, mom, everyone has their place, first the Homeland, then the Mother, then the children. In the end, she said, “You are a strong mother and I am handing over my daughters to you.”

– The heart testified.

– He just knew that for Shushi the forces in the battle are very unequal and the probability of death is high.

– When was Hakob brought from the battlefield?

– Artsakh hero Hakob Harutyunyan did not return from the battlefield. He is at the forefront and keeps firing. He will return when we win. He will only return victorious. And it is my, your, every Armenian’s duty to bring my son home from the front. Every day, when you go to bed, when the next day of your life ends, remember that my son is in the mountains, on the front lines, and you, the living, must do everything to get him back …

By GAYANE POGHOSYAN