Silence reigns under Stepanakert's blue sky ... Emptied of half of its inhabitants, the capital of the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh looks like a ghost town.
Its parks and gardens are deserted and its businesses abandoned.
It has been almost a month since the conflict with Azerbaijan broke out, causing thousands of civilians to flee, particularly to Armenia.
Despite the strikes that targeted the city, some of its inhabitants decided to stay, especially those who had already known the war.
This is the case of Carlo Babikyan, a Lebanese of Armenian origin.
"We Lebanese are not afraid of war. We grew up during the war, we grew up under the bombs. That's why they won't frighten us with their missiles and rockets. Right after that. the shelling we started to clean up and clear away, ”explains Carlo Babikyan.
Lilit Ghazaryan, she too has chosen to stay.
This shopkeeper finds herself living in her grocery store after her house was destroyed by a bombardment.
Miraculously, there were no casualties.
"What should I do? My husband is here, my son is here. He's enlisted in the army. If a soldier comes, shouldn't we have a piece of bread to give him? Tell me, what should "I do? Get up and go? If everyone gets up and leaves, if I go, if you go, then who is going to hold the Artsakh?", launches the old lady determined to stay.
"None of this makes sense"
The people of Nagorno-Karabakh know war and its cruelty.
Vasken lost his home.
To his misfortune is added the disappearance of his nephew who died at the front.
"I want to stay here because I am convinced that this is our land and will remain so. We are going to live here. I am telling you again, none of this makes sense. This house does. no sense, just the sacrifice of those who are gone, "Vasken laments before pausing, overcome with emotion.
The eyes of the inhabitants of Stepanakert are on the forehead.
Even if the sirens no longer sound and the rockets have not fallen on the city for a few days, the muffled noises of the bombings, a few tens of kilometers from here, remind us that the situation can degenerate at any time.
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