HEART SIZE AND IN HEART…

The conscription is underway in Armenia, a conscription after the war. We are in the Central Conscription Facility, many of the boys have relatives and friends who took part in the war.

“My father is a participant in the Artsakh liberation war of the 90s, and my elder brother is serving in” Yeghnikner “during this war. He still does not know that I have already joined the Armenian army,” says Artsvin Nazaryan from Vanadzor.

“My brother is also in “Yeghnikner”, he fought under the command of Artsakh’s hero, Colonel Karen Jalavyan, he will be demobilized in four months,” Tigran Ikhtiaryan joins the conversation.

Tigran is from Vayk. The future Arabologist has noticeable successes in the field of sports. He is the champion of the Street Workout 2018 Armenian championship, his name is also registered in the Armenian “Hero Book”, the Armenian version of the Guinness Book of Records (leaning on the ground with his fists, he did the push-up exercise 100 times in 55 seconds).

“Before I was drafted into the army, we visited my brother, we had not seen each other for a long time. We talked at length about various topics, he gave advice, and most importantly, to serve with the awareness that you are serving for the sake of an even more sanctified land at the cost of the lives of our brave and heroic boys.

Tigran says that there is no difference for him in which part he will serve.

“Wherever I go, it is a part of my homeland,” then adds Monte’s words: “Love your homeland so that your enemy is afraid of that love.”

“We will serve with honor,” assures Yura Tamazyan from Odzun. “We have no right to despair.”

“No matter where you turn the pages of our history, there are constant wars, struggles for survival. Many of my relatives took part in the self-defense battles of the 90s, they fought as part of the Aygedzor detachment. There is no place in the world that has not gone through the pain of war, has not lost. In 1992, my grandmother, aunt and uncle were killed in a bomb blast, all three on the same day, says Khachatur Kizoghyan from Lusavan. Khachatur returned from Russia in the summer.

“We have been living in Russia, in Odintsovo, for ten years, but from the beginning I decided to serve in Armenia, in my birthplace. What has our Homeland gone through over the centuries, how much has it been squeezed, shrunk … It has shrunk, it has become the size of a heart, but always in your heart, no matter where you are in the world …”

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Deacon Harutyun Martirosyan talks to the soldiers in the waiting room of the assembly station, gives advice, urges to be tolerant and forgiving towards each other. “There will be boys of different personalities, with different mentalities, be kind to each other, united and united. With the dedicated service of each of you, our army is getting stronger, the country is becoming invincible.”

The deacon distributes a prayer book and crosses to the soldiers. “Almighty Lord, be the guardian of all soldiers, arm them with unwavering faith, keep fearless from the blows of a possible, invisible enemy.”

The conscription continues in Armenia.

Our brave sons keep and defend the homeland as much as their hearts, and every soldier is a beat of that heart …

By ALIS ALAVERDYAN

Photos by AREG VARDANYAN