News

Text by Sofi Tovmasyan

Photos from the Facebook pages of Arayik Harutyunyan, Edgar Barseghyan and Mariam Sargsyan

Under the explosions from Yerevan to Shushi for the sake of marriage․

“I vow.”

“I vow.”

These  vows were made today in the Ghazanchetsots church in Shushi.

This is the first wedding after the unexpected attack launched by Azerbaijan against Artsakh on September 27.

The morning of October 24 started with this news.

The bride and groom, Mariam Sargsyan and Hovik Hovsepyan, met on this very day 4 years ago, and decided on their wedding day 3 years ago. And even the war did not break their plans, and Hovik’s friend took Mariam from Yerevan to Shushi early in the morning.

“One of our friends, Aram, took me from Yerevan to Shushi, despite the risks. We were driving without knowing what the end would be because there were more explosions on the way. Thank God, everything ended well. We decided not to postpone the wedding, so we got married. “Let them not rejoice and think that they can ruin our plans,” says Mariam.

Mariam and Hovik were baptized 2 days before, Mariam in Yerevan, Hovik in Artsakh. With the help of the Teryan Cultural Union, they found the bride’s dress, a traditional Armenian costume.

In the past, the choice of the church was between Kanach Zham  (Saint John the Baptist Church) or the Ghazanchetsots․ The decision was clear after the rocket attack. And if on the way to Shushi Mariam was worried that the church would be bombed again, then that feeling was lost inside the walls of the church, she only thought about peace.

“This will be a message, it will have a meaning. No matter how much our churches are shelled, they will remain the same, Armenian families will be established in Artsakh.”

Mariam and Hovik wanted their wedding to be in the presence of all the relatives but only the godfather, Hovik’s friend and Mariam’s 2 friends were present. Besides, a number of journalists covered the event.

After the wedding, their godfather returned to the frontline, and they returned to Yerevan, where their mothers and sisters were waiting.

“My husband and I are from the city of Martuni. On the first day that the enemy shelled the city, a  grandmother with her granddaughter died in our district, after that we went to Shushi, and two weeks later I came to Yerevan because my mother and sister needed me. Hovik and his father were in Artsakh. “His father and friends have been delivering bread to the residents of the city for a month now,” Mariam says.

Mariam hopes that they will be the last generation to marry in a state of war. She says that the number of Armenian families will increase and the vacant ranks will definitely be replenished.