Papik Tatik

During my trip through Nagorno Karabakh, I visited the Gandzasar Monastery. Thankfully, a friend's co-worker saved me from another marshutka ride and drove me north from Stepankart (NK's capital) to the Monastery. On the road out from Stepanakert the Papik Tatik (Grandfather, Grandmother) statue awaits drivers. "We Are Our Hills" is the monument's official title. Made of the tuff stone, it represents the grit of the people of Karabakh. It also stands as a political statement, in the 1960s the Armenians wanted the statue, but the government in Baku was not too hot on the idea. My guess, the Azeri government, under the Soviet Union had little interest in strengthening the cultural spirit of the Armenian people. Eventually the statue was agreed to.