An armed Armenian woman from Shatakh with her son, Van

The photograph was taken in Van. It shows an armed Armenian woman, a native of Shatakh (Çatak), with her son. The woman wears a headscarf, holds a rifle and has cartridge belts across her chest. The boy stands beside her in front of a stone wall and a wooden door.

According to the source, she lost her whole family during the Armenian massacres, and only her son remained. She fled with him to the mountains, where they were pursued by people intending to kill her and sell the child into captivity. She made her way through the mountains of Shatakh to Van, holding off her pursuers and saving her son. In Van she joined the Armenian self-defence forces, and after the defeat she was forced to leave the city with her son and other survivors.