Stepan Bekyan spent 1413 days on the battlefield
Great Patriotic War participant Stepan Bekyan, stayed on the battlefield throughout the war.
"I participated in the protection of Caucasus, liberation of Warsaw and capture of Berlin," recalls Stepan Bekyan.
Putting all his medals in full display, Mr. Bekyan regretted at being unable to show his military belt and tie.
Stepan Bekyan was born in the village of Paraga, Nakhijevan. After leaving the local school Bekyan went to a technical school. Later he worked as a doctor's assistant in Stepanakert. He left for the front on the first day of the war and stayed their till 1945.
After the war, Bekyan graduated from Yerevan Medical University and worked in hospital since then.
"You can hardly see anyone in Paraga these days. Azerbaijan's ill-treatment has emptied the village. Even the monument erected to the 130 youth victims of the Great Patriotic War is ruined today," says Mr. Bekyan.
The 91-year-old veteran is aware of the latest news, the country's home and foreign developments.
"It does not matter what nationality you are - Turk, Yezidi or Kurd. All peoples should live in peace and friendship regardless of their nationality. Armenia and Turkey have a hostile attitude to each other. Did the Turkish-Armenian border harm anyone when it was open? What is the use of its closure? Let them reopen the border and live in peace," Stepan Bekyan said commenting on the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation process.
Stepan Bekyan has three children, five grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
