Granddaughter of Armenian woman who died in Azerbaijan-occupied Karabakh: Last time we talked with her 6 months ago

The last time we talked with my grandmother was six months ago, and at that time she said: “I will come, wait, I will come, don't think about me.” The granddaughter of Armenian woman Vera Aghasyan, 70, who died on October 20 in Stepanakert, the capital of Azerbaijani occupied Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), stated this in an interview with Armenian News-NEWS.am.

"I asked, 'Where do you live there?' She said, 'It's a room, we are in that room. The [Armenian] people who have remained in Stepanakert, we are [all] together, they [i.e. the Azerbaijanis] give us food.' But when we were asking other questions, we were asking ‘How do they treat you there?’ their Red Cross was turning off [the connection], it wasn’t letting grandma answer those questions. Then they were calling, saying, ‘Grandma says don't ask such questions.’ We were asking if there are many Turks [i.e. Azerbaijanis] there, ‘do you communicate with them?’ They weren't letting her answer those questions. They were hanging up [the phone], then they were calling again, grandma was saying don't ask such questions, just ask how are you, how are you there?" said the granddaughter, adding that they called via WhatsApp.

The granddaughter said that they noticed that there was sadness on her grandmother's face.

"There was an impression that someone is standing over her and saying what she had to say; they were intimidating [her]. She was looking elsewhere while talking to us, and then answering my questions," the granddaughter said, noting that she learned from the media that her grandmother had died.

The granddaughter said that her grandmother only had a blood pressure problem.

"I’m thinking what kind of things they [i.e. the Azerbaijanis] did to make her heart stop. I don't believe she had a lung problem. If she was sick, why didn't they tell us about it? I told them that ‘my grandma has mental problems, she cannot decide whether to stay here or there, send her, let her come to Armenia.’ They said, ‘No. She herself must want to come,’" said the granddaughter.

Earlier we reported about the death of Vera Aghasyan, an Armenian woman who stayed in Stepanakert after the ongoing Azerbaijani occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh. The cause of death of this 70-year-old woman was announced as acute cardiopulmonary failure, which had developed as a result of pulmonary artery thrombosis.

Now her relatives are going to petition to the International Committee of the Red Cross to have her buried in Armenia.