STEPANAKERT. – The resumption of military actions by Azerbaijan didn’t come as a surprise. Turkey had to move the combat theatre to another place, and apparently had to choose Azerbaijan for this purpose.
MP and Major General of the Karabakh National Assembly (NA) Vitaly Balasanyan said the aforementioned on Public Television of Nagorno-Karabakh.
“This didn’t come as a surprise to us, since Azerbaijan had begun preparing for war since the moment of signing the ceasefire agreement on 12 May 1994. The signing of this agreement was a serious political mistake for us. This was followed by the information disseminated by the Azerbaijani media outlets, events in Turkey and Middle East. It should have been clear to us that Turkey would move the combat theatre to another place, and this could be only Azerbaijan, Turkey’s shelter in the Caucasus. We should have felt this earlier. We should have analyzed the developments,” Balasanyan said.
In the night of April 2, when Azerbaijan unleashed its aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh, the general headed for the 4th line of defense which led furious fighting without any losses. According to the general, only two soldiers sustained minor injuries.
“Azerbaijan should understand that the issue cannot be solved through military means. The World War III has started long ago, but no superpower confesses that it has started,” Balasanyan stressed.
In his words, on the first day the main attack was directed against Aghdam, and then in the southern and northern directions. The goal of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces was to breach defenses in the center and separate two parts of the Defense Army from each other, the general noted. But they didn’t manage to do this, he added.
The Karabakh Defense Army managed to retaliate on time and open aimed fire.
According to the MP, the Azerbaijani side suffered colossal losses and failed the offensive operations, despite leading a literate battle. “Currently the Azerbaijani Army is more improved. I’m sure they were seriously prepared, and weren’t weak tactically: one shouldn’t downplay them. Our task is to mobilize in the shortest period possible and deploy in order to come into positions. The adversary supposed that we wouldn’t be able to come into our positions after the rocket and artillery bombardment. All the roads along the frontline came under fire. This wasn’t an illiterate fight from their side. Moreover, it was easy for them to attack, since they had drones and could watch the fight from above,” the general said.
But why didn’t the Azerbaijani army achieve success? Because there are few people in the Azerbaijani army who are ready to struggle for their homeland. “The lowest echelon of the Azerbaijani army is constantly oppressed. We can see what is happening at their hungry and thirsty posts. We can see this both from the air and from our posts. Not every soldier there is ready to stand till the end. I’m sure that at least 80 percent of the Azerbaijani soldiers don’t consider it as their homeland,” he said.
The general also added that they saw the Azerbaijani militaries shoot their fleeing soldiers.