Armenian authorities trying to consign to oblivion heroism of sons of  Armenian people in face of Azerbaijani aggression - opposition MP

ArmInfo. Gegham Manukyan, a member of the Armenian parliament from the opposition "Armenia" faction, responded to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's odious statement that the people of Artsakh "fled and did not fight" during the Azerbaijani aggression of 2023.

In a video message on his Facebook page, the MP recalled that back in  February 2024, he sent a written inquiry to Armenian Defense Minister  Suren Papikyan, inquiring about the number of military personnel,  volunteers, contract soldiers, and civilians killed as a result of  Azerbaijan's aggression against Artsakh on September 19-20, 2023. He  also inquired about the circumstances of the deaths of the  aforementioned citizens.

"On March 13, the Armenian Ministry of Defense sent a written  response classified as confidential. This was done to prevent me from  publishing the list of servicemen who fought against the enemy under  unequal conditions and were betrayed by the senior leadership of the  Armenian Armed Forces," Manukyan said.

 The MP regretfully noted that the leadership of the Artsakh Ministry  of Defense of those days also bears some blame, having still not  raised its voice and presented the real picture. Meanwhile, according  to Manukyan, today there is no talk about the 716 positions of the  village of Chankatagh, where out of 10 servicemen on combat duty,  three were killed and two were wounded, just as there is no talk  about the 812 positions of the village of Vank in the Martakert  region, where Tigran Avetisyan died heroically (he was defending the  Artsakh village of Vank, fighting in positions near the settlements  of Nareshtar and Charektar, after the commander was wounded, he  refused to leave his combat position - ed.).

The MP also recalled that he had previously published a list of  servicemen, compiled from open sources- 265 killed and missing-who  fought under unequal conditions during those days. "Much can be said  about each such position, and this is all that the Armenian Ministry  of Defense and the current government are trying to consign to  oblivion," the opposition MP emphasized.

Furthermore, Manukyan noted that in his inquiry to the Minister of  Defense, he also asked whether they had studied the effectiveness of  the command units' combat missions and their interactions, and also  asked for a comprehensive picture. According to the MP, he was told  that, given the forced displacement of Artsakh's population during  those days and the fact that all the documents remained within  Artsakh, no study had been conducted. From this, the MP concluded  that the Armenian Prime Minister had once again lied, making false  accusations and manipulating the idea that if they one day disclosed  these documents, it would become clear that "the Artsakh Defense Army  did not fight." 

Manukyan noted that today, the current Armenian authorities are  attempting to consign to oblivion not only the events of September  19-20, 2023, but also the Azerbaijani aggression of September 13-14,  2022, as well as the names of those heroes, including the Artsakh  Defense Army and Artsakh special forces units, who came to Armenia's  aid during the Azerbaijani aggression in September 2022 in the  direction of Jermuk and who died on the battlefield in September 2023  defending the NKR.

"How vile would one have to be to avoid speaking about this? Who  fled, who broke the law, who disrupted order, who violated the plan  for the use of armed forces adopted by the Security Council of  Armenia, and tomorrow they will answer for all of this in court.  Unfortunately, my responsibility to ensure the country's security  prevents me from speaking about this openly now. But the fact that  there were those who broke the law and committed crimes-from military  personnel to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan-will one day be  brought to justice," Manukyan concluded.

It should be noted that on March 26, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol  Pashinyan stated during a briefing that the Artsakh elite allegedly  did not fight in 2023, having fled the republic. He reiterated that  "if they wanted to live on their own land, they would have stayed and  fought, not fled." Pashinyan, however, omitted the fact that Armenia,  the guarantor of the NKR's security, left the republic alone against  Azerbaijan, a force of 10 million.

It should be noted that the officially acknowledged losses of the  Azerbaijani side during the aggression against Artsakh on September  19-20, 2023, amounted to 205 killed, with over 500 wounded of varying  severity. Moreover, according to unofficial estimates, over 1,000  enemy soldiers were killed in this battle.