Friday, December 21 2018 13:42

ArmInfo. "In the days of the  April 2016 war, the Armenian side had intelligence information about  possible actions by the special forces of Azerbaijan," Acting Defense  Minister David Tonoyan told the radio Azatutyun speaking about the  work of the intelligence department of the General Staff of the Armed  Forces during the April war.

This issue became the subject of discussion after the appointment of  the former head of the intelligence department of the General Staff  Arshak Karapetyan as adviser to the Prime Minister that took place  the other day. Karapetyan held this position during the April war,  and after it, by the decree of the third President of Armenia, Serzh  Sargsyan, was removed from office, and then appointed military  attache at the Armenian Embassy in Russia.

"As you know, the April hostilities began by Azerbaijani Special  Forces, and Special Forces conduct their activities in secrecy. Even  under these conditions, we had information about possible actions by  the enemy, "said Tonoyan. Answering the question of why the head of  the intelligence department was dismissed from his post, the minister  replied: "I cannot comment on the actions of the Supreme Commander,  but at the same time, this officer was appointed military attache in  Russia".

In response to a question about whether the received intelligence  information was expediently used, Tonoyan, who served as deputy  defense minister during the April war, replied: "There is a very  small space between the enemy forces and Armenian units. We regularly  monitor various movements of the armed forces of Azerbaijan. It was  also recorded at that time. But this does not always mean that there  will be an attack".

Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan himself commented on his  decision to appoint his adviser to the former head of the  intelligence department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces,  noting that he had read dozens, if not hundreds of pages of secret  materials about the four-day war and found nothing in them that would  indicate the absence intelligence. Pashinyan also said that regarding  the April war there is information that needs to be checked. "Those  who say that Arshak Karapetyan is responsible for the four- day war,  thereby say that no one above him is responsible for this. Those who  mention that Arshak Karapetyan Serzh Sargsyan was dismissed as a  result of those events say that Sargsyan is a fair judge and made a  fair decision. I read dozens, if not hundreds of pages of classified  materials about the four-day war, and did not find anything in these  materials that would indicate the absence or lack of intelligence,"  said the Acting Prime Minister.