Monday, June 1 2015 07:16

Upon his retirement 85-year-old Nerses Hayrapetovich Bagdunts had dedicated almost half a century to working as a driver at Sovkhoz in Tegh village, Goris region. Besides his impeccable character Nersis is also known to his co-villagers for his kinship with president of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan. The sitting president appears to be the grandson of Nerses Hayrapetovich’s uncle.  

 

When asked to be allowed to take a photo of him the old man would hastily remove his cap. When he noticed our smiles he calmly said: “I have never had photograph taken with my head covered – that is indecent. We would remove our hats even when journalists would come to take photos of us and the half-ruined village during the war”.

 

The old man starts recalling the Sargsyan family with Serzh Sargsyan’s grandfather – Avetis Sargsyan. “Avetis dai (dai - uncle – editor’s note) was a respected man who was prominent for his human qualities. In a word, the Sargsyan family’s ancestors were always respected in Tegh, they were decent men”, says Nerses Hayrapetovich.

 

People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs (PCIA) also noticed Avetis Sargsyan. 8 villagers were repressed on that day in 1937.  The old man tells that back in the day it was not that important if someone was guilty or no. “We still don’t know what Avetis dai was accused of. The information on his case has remained “classified” till now. All we know he never came back from Sibir”, recalls Nerses Hayrapetovich.

 

 “Beria and his Armenian copycat – people’s commissar of internal affairs Khachatur Mugdusi were wheeling and dealing in Armenia back in the day. Mugdusi was a rare bastard and every single person hated and feared him at the same time. Like in our day in Syunik”, the old man tells with a wry smile.

Nerses Hayrapetovich describes those days as “hooray period”. People would call out that exclamation at the slightest pretext – and the louder they called the better. The old man tells that people would cheer and call out “hooray” when Yeghishe Charents and Aksel Bakunts were being arrested. Both died in 1937. They would call out knowing those people were guilty of refusing to chant praises of the authorities in power. “I was seven but I still remember people cheering when Serzh Sargsyan’s grandfather was being taken away. They had to cheer because there was no way to help him”.

 

The Sargsyan family became orphan after Avetis had been taken away. His wife had four children to take care of. Azat Sargsyan, the eldest son, was a fourth-grade pupil at that time. The old man tells that the boy couldn’t force himself to stay in the village for he knew his father was sentenced to death with the help of their fellow villagers.  The family decided to move to Karabakh.

 

 

 “They took only what they needed and left. This was at the time when there was hardly anything to eat, when bread was rationed. No one, even the closest relatives do not know how Azat managed to become a respected man in Stepanakert. He mastered blacksmith’s profession. His beautiful wife Nora became a weaver. Azat took her from Karintak. The village is located under the Shushi rocks and it is enough to cast a glance at it to understand what sort of people live there. I can tell you for sure – no Karintak dweller left the village during the Karabakh war”, tells Nerses Hayrapetovich.

 

 

Azat Sargsyan built his own house in a district called “Tghtsu Maila” in Stepanakert (a district for Tegh dwellers – editor’s note). Nowadays there are 3 similar districts in the city and 200 private houses. Nora and Azat had three sons – Levon, Serzh and Sashik.

 

 

“Levon is an ambassador-at-large; he is a lecturer on the faculty of theological studies at Yerevan State University. He is a respected man of science. Sashik has always been a working class man. He has always been trading and he has always been talking people down. Serzh studied at faculty of philology and he is a specialist of Armenian language and literature. Well, as you know he is also our president”, laughs the old man.

 

 

“We knew Azat really well, yet we know little of Serzh. Azat was a modest person, very mannerly and clever. Despite 4 grades of education he had to work a lot since he was a child to feed his siblings. He was a man of beautiful and modest nature”, tells Nerses Hayrapetovich.

 

 

 

He tells that Serzh Sargsyan has taken after his father’s modest nature, slowness, quiet and balanced speech. “We often see him on TV and we recall Azat at that moment. I can’t tell why our nation is so indifferent towards our president, it is not for me to say”, sums up the old man.