"Take good care of my sons, I will be back" (video)
Karine Tovmasyan, a resident of Vanashen village in Armenia’s Ararat marz, last saw her husband 23 years ago. Avetik Tovmasyan went missing in 1992 in the fight for Lachin corridor. Karine Tovmasyan will never forget the day when Avetik went to the front. “They agreed to gather in our home at 3.30 am to go to the front together. My husband put his arm on my shoulder and said, “Take good care of my sons, I will be back.” The family received occasional news about Avetik’s whereabouts but the search ended without results. The family’s hopes to receive at least a letter or a call from him dashed away. It was especially difficult for the woman to explain to her children the absence of their father. “My eldest son blamed me saying I am not interested in the fate of his father. Then he insisted that I tell him the truth about his father,” Mrs Karine said. Avetik’s grandson, 9-year-old Narek, knows what made his grandfather participate in the Karabakh war. “When I grow up, I shall continue my grandfather’s work, I shall become a construction engineer like him,” says Narek. Mrs. Karine’s tapestry works were displayed at a tapestry exhibition opened by the Yerevan office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Overall, 40 tapestries made by members of families of missing persons were showcased at the exhibition.
