Karabakh general: Azeris shot their fleeing soldiers
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.
Armenia Deputy Defense Minister briefs ICRC on crimes committed by Azerbaijani Armed Forces
YEREVAN. – All the 18 bodies of the Armenian soldiers transferred by Azerbaijan Sunday were subjected to mockery and derision.
First Deputy Defense Minister of Armenia Davit Tonoyan said the aforementioned at the meeting with the Head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Delegation in Yerevan Caroline Douilliez.
According to Tonoyan, this is not only a violation of the Geneva Convention of 1949 and its Additional Protocol of 1949, but also a grave crime from the point of view of the criminal legislation of any legal state.
He also noted that the Armenian side will do its best so that the international community and specialist organizations condemn the crimes committed by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.
Karabakh Update: We mourn but are proud: Armenia MOD continues posting pictures of fallen soldiers
YEREVAN. – Artsrun Hovhannisyan, the press secretary of the Minister of Defense of Armenia, continues publicizing the photographs of the Armenian military servicemen who have fallen as a result of the recent aggression by the Azerbaijani armed forces.
Private Artur Gevorgyan, 19, was from Abovyan town in Kotayk Province of Armenia. He will be laid to rest on Tuesday, in Saralanj village in Kotayk Province.
Private Azat Simonyan, 20, was drafted into the army in 2014. He will be interred on Tuesday, in Kamaris village in Kotayk Province.
Private Zhora Yesayan, 20, was drafted into the army in 2014. He will be buried on Tuesday, in Darbnik village in Ararat Province of Armenia.
Private Norik Sargsyan, 20, was drafted into the army in 2014. He will be laid to rest on Tuesday, in Yeranos village in Gegharkunik Province of Armenia.
Contractual Sergeant Robert Abrahamyan, 23, was from Taterakan village in Ararat Province. He will be interred on Tuesday.
Senior Armenian military official says Azerbaijan asked for ceasefire in Karabakh
According to a senior Armenian military official, it was Azerbaijan that had sought a ceasefire several days after renewing hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh early this month.
The ceasefire agreed between the chiefs of the general staffs of the armed forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Moscow on April 5 put an end to the worst escalation of violence in the conflict zone since the 1994 truce.
Speaking to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, deputy chief of the General Staff of Armenia’s Armed Forces Lieutenant-General Movses Hakobyan said: “This time we should also state that it is the Armenian soldier who again forced the enemy to cease fire.”
Hakobyan, who in the past also served as Nagorno-Karabakh’s defense chief, said that he believed Azerbaijan would “draw conclusions” from its actions. “If it tries to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict this way again, the response will be much tougher,” he said.
According to the senior military official, the Armenian intelligence had the relevant data on the Azerbaijani aggressive plans: “But the border of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is quite long and it was, of course, difficult to predict at what time and where the attacks would be launched.”
According to Nagorno-Karabakh’s Defense Ministry, 62 Armenian soldiers were killed in action and more than 120 were wounded in clashes with Azerbaijani forces. The fate of one Armenian soldier reportedly remained unclear as of Monday afternoon.
Karabakh Update: Baku confirms death of Special Forces Lieutenant Colonel
Baku confirmed the death of a Lieutenant Colonel from the Azeri Special Forces, Haqqin.az reports.
Baku’s attempts to conceal the number of fighters killed in the course of clashes between Karabakh and Azerbaijan since April 2 proved ineffective.
According to Azerbaijani media outlets, the body of Murad Telman oğlu Mirzayev, who was killed in recent clashes with Karabakh, will be transported to Baku by helicopter.
Mirzayev was reportedly killed “in a special combat mission.”
The parties to the Karabakh conflict agreed on a bilateral ceasefire along the contact line which came into force at midday, April 5.
Prior to that, on the night of April 1-2, Azerbaijani armed forces initiated overt offensive operations in the southern, southeastern and northeastern directions of the line of contact with Nagorno Karabakh.
As of April 5, the Azerbaijani side has lost 26 tanks and 4 infantry fighting vehicles, as well as 1 BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher, 1 engineering vehicle, 2 military helicopters and 14 unmanned aerial vehicles. The Azerbaijani side has admitted the loss of 31 fighters, 1 helicopter and 1 unmanned drone, whereas the Armenian side’s photo and video materials show dozens of killed Azerbaijani troops, 1 helicopter and 3 UAVs. Opposition media outlets, however, reported on the death of 93 Azerbaijani soldiers, stating that 33 more have been wounded. According to Karabakh authorities, 300 Azerbaijani soldiers were killed in clashes.
14 Karabakh tanks have been neutralized since April 2.
Read also:93 Azerbaijani soldiers killed in clashes with Karabakh
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No proposal can be implemented without Nagorno-Karabakh’s participation – Vardges Baghryan
In an interview with Tert.am, member of the Nagorno-Karabakh Parliament Vardges Baghryan commented on the latest 4-day hostilities.
No proposal can be implemented without Nagorno-Karabakh’s participation.
“We are masters of our fate, and no one can tell us how we should live,” he said.
As regards possible deployment of peacemakers in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, Mr Baghryan said that the issue can only be discussed after the major problem has been resolved – Nagorno-Karabakh’s political status.
Mr Baghryan, should we only hope for our people and army, amid the responses by the international organizations we were members of, which have not justified our expectations, particularly our strategic partner Russia?
I find it difficult to make judgments on the real situation. Some issues arouse concern, particularly a statement by Dmitry Rogozin that will continue arms sales to Azerbaijan under a relevant agreement.
The four-day hostilities showed the strength of Armenians’ spirit and their unit in defending their homeland. This nation’s spirit cannot be broken. We have proved it once again and we will, no doubt, defend our homeland. Of course, our enemy has better weapons, and we have to think of concrete steps. However, relying on ourselves does not at all mean mistrusting all others. This world is not only we and Azerbaijan. We see the international community, numerous organizations and individuals have proved with their deeds they are for justice and Armenians. We should not be pro-west, pro-Russian pro-American. We must be pro-Armenian, relying on ourselves and doing our best to defend our country.
Azerbaijan uses mortar, howitzer to break agreement on cessation of fire
PanARMENIAN.Net – The agreement on the cessation of fire was mainly observed on the night of April 9-10, with the Azerbaijani forces, however, using an 82-mm mortar and a 122-mm D-30 howitzer in the northern section of the contact line with Nagorno Karabakh.
Karabakh troops stay committed to the agreement on the cessation of fire and continue controlling the situation on the contact line.
The parties to the Karabakh conflict agreed on a bilateral ceasefire along the contact line which came into force at midday, April 5.
Prior to that, on the night of April 1-2, Azerbaijani armed forces initiated overt offensive operations in the southern, southeastern and northeastern directions of the line of contact with Nagorno Karabakh.
As many as 46 Karabakh servicemen were killed and 122 were wounded in the course of military operations.
As of April 5, the Azerbaijani side has lost 26 tanks and 4 infantry fighting vehicles, as well as 1 BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher, 1 engineering vehicle, 2 military helicopters and 11 unmanned aerial vehicles. The Azerbaijani side has admitted the loss of 31 fighters, 1 helicopter and 1 unmanned drones, whereas the Armenian side’s photo and video materials show dozens of killed Azerbaijani troops, 1 helicopter and 3 UAVs. Opposition media outlets, however, reported on the death of 81 Azerbaijani soldiers, stating that 6 more have gone missing. According to Karabakh authorities, 300 Azerbaijani soldiers were killed in clashes.
14 Karabakh tanks have been neutralized since April 2.
Read also:OCSE Minsk Group talks culprits behind Karabakh escalation
Home destroyed by Azerbaijan but christianity survived, Karabakh family wants peace to return to native village
By
“I did not feel very well that night. A sound from outside woke me up. I got up to take medicine for blood pressure. I opened the door to get a cup of water, and heard shots, sounds of explosion,” Safura Iskandaryan, a 52-year-old resident of the village of Talish in the NKR’s Martakert region, emotionally gives her account of the events.
“My husband also got up. We saw that they were shelling the village. They first struck the military unit, and our house is 300 meters away from it. The second strike was further down. Bomb fragments were landing in our garden. We hardly managed to dress my disabled mother and hide in the bathhouse, which we used as a bomb shelter.”
The woman says their family hid in “the temporary shelter” for four and a half hours. She remembers their house being hailed with shots and how they narrowly escaped. Later, she says at the front gate they met Armenian soldiers who ordered them to immediately leave the village.
“You cannot imagine how fast we got in our car, and took with us as many of the villagers as we could: most of them were children, my brother with his grandchild. We already knew that the Azeris were in the village, in the upper district. Those poor people, who were brutally murdered, were living in a house in the upper part. We took 30 people in our car and my husband drove to the village of Mataghis,” says a mother of four kids, repeatedly mixing sequence of events, because of her emotions.
The Iskandaryan family is one of many in Talish who experienced déjà vu on April 2, again feeling the pain and loss of the war on their own skin: they were displaced from their own houses for the second time in 23 years.
Recalling harrowing details of the night, the woman says that they got into a terrible bombardment in the village of Mataghis. They saw how the Mataghis power station was blown up by a Grad multiple rocket launcher system used by Azerbaijanis.
“It was like watching a movie. Children were crying and adults were screaming: ‘Edo jan, save us, drive forward, they are shooting.’ My poor husband was shouting: ‘I am not worrying about me, what shall I do with these children?…” We hid around a hill in our car, and when the enemy soldiers were busy with charging their guns, we were able to flee. We looked back at the houses for soldiers’ families and saw them collapsing like in a movie. We reached the village of Maghavuz, where gunshots were heard, too. Cars were rushing out of the village. Everyone was trying to save their families,” she says.
The Iskandaryans, together with other villagers, moved to Armenia, and got to their relatives’ homes.
The village of Talish, which is home to about 500 people, is one of the oldest villages of Artsakh. As a result of hostilities, most of the village, which is not far from the line of contact, was destroyed. The village’s administrative building, its school, kindergarten, and other infrastructures were bombed. Dozens of houses were leveled to the ground. It was on the night of April 2 that the rival soldiers shot dead two Talish civilians, Valera Khalapyan and his wife Razmelay, and cut their ears. They also killed 92-year-old Marusya Khalapyan.
Iskandaryan says that they robbed the houses of the village, took away computers, different electrical gadgets, the mobile phones of the villagers.
“There were people, who managed to escape just in pajamas. At such critical moments people just want to flee and save their life. The largest shop in the village was mine. Now my husband is there and says that they have taken everything. The villagers of Talish need help to be able to get back on their feet,” she says.
NKR Prime Minister Ara Harutyunyan, visiting the town of Martakert, and the villages of Mataghis and Talish on April 6, said that the government will do its utmost to help to quickly reconstruct the residents’ houses and community infrastructure damaged in the bombardment. The prime minister said that within a few days Ministry of Urban Development specialists will inventory all the damage in order to start the restoration work as soon as possible.
Iskandaryan says that farmers are constantly calling each other to ask whether they are going to return to the village or not.
“The answer is one: if the village is reconstructed, they will be happy to return. The village had been destroyed during the war, but during those 23 years we re-built Talish. The village guests used to say: ‘what a lovely and rich village it is’. We were accustomed to living under the shootings, but not like this. We were afraid of only commando raids that had become frequent, but not of shootings,” she says.
The villagers of Talish dream to return to their homes, to live, to create. Iskandaryan is worried: her daughter and husband plowed the land and they were going to start sowing maize in a few days.
“How can it be? We’re so happy with our soldiers. We knew that if they were there, then we were safe and could sleep tight. But now I cannot imagine that I can go there again, and go to bed peacefully. I do not believe that there is a ceasefire. One cannot trust an Azeri. Today, they say that everything is alright, but later they fire at you in the back. I will go and check myself how strong the positions are, and only then I will return to Talish. We want peace,” says Iskandaryan.
Armenian Youth Federation: Over 3,500 Protest Karabakh Attacks in LA, Staging Spontaneous Sit-In
Over 3,500 gathered at the Azeri Consulate General in LA to protest attacks on Artsakh
BY ARA KHACHATOURIAN
LOS ANGELES—More than 3,500 community members heeded the calls from the Armenian Youth Federation on Friday and gathered in front of the Azerbaijani Consulate on Wilshire Boulevard to protest Baku’s savage attacks on Artsakh, where civilians and children were also targets of the Azeri aggression.
At one point during the peaceful rally, the protesters, who were huddled on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Granville Avenue, began to cross the street northbound and staged a spontaneous sit-in in the middle of the street, blocking eastbound and westbound traffic.
Chanting, “Not One Inch,” protesters the protesters sent a clear message to the Azerbaijani authorities that no amount of aggression and gunfire will force Armenians to concede any territory in Artsakh.
The Los Angeles Police Department, which was caught when protesters staged the sit-in, worked with organizers to ensure the safety of the protesters and those around them. The organizers thanked LAPD for their service, as well as the community around the consulate building for understanding the just cause for which the protest was staged.
In fact, the messages delivered by the speakers were loud and resolute. That as long there is a threat to Armenians anywhere in the world—and in this instance to the population of Artsakh—the nation will come together to defend the homeland.
AYF Central Executive member Verginie Touloumian invited the crowd to observe the moment of silence in memory of the those who lost their lives in defense of Artsakh and proceeded to read the names of those soldiers, civilians and the 12-year-old boy who died during last week’s attacks by Azerbaijan.
Areni Hamparian, a member of the AYF Junior Organization, delivered a moving speech, in Armenian, declaring that as long as there was an existential threat on Artsakh, or any other Armenian land, Armenian will continue to fight for justice.
Puzant Berberian, a member of the AYF San Fernando Valley Sardarabad chapter spoke about attempts to distort facts and recounted Artsakh’s centuries old history as a bastion of Armenian culture and heroism.
AYF Central Executive Chairman Gev Iskajian directed his remarks to the Azerbaijani Consulate by delivering a clear message of resistance and condemnation, saying that a nation that won the Artsakh war in the first place, has the resolve and the means to ensure “not one inch” of land is conceded and that the brutal savagery on display by Azerbaijan would not be tolerated.
After rallying the crowd with messages of victory and heroism, Davit Arakelyan informed the crowd that the AYF’s “With Our Soldiers” campaign was busy working to ensure that our soldiers and families were taken care of and urged the community to assist in that effort, and encouraged to community to support Artsakh though the Armenian Relief Society’s fund that was established after last week’s attacks.
His message was clear: Armenians in Los Angeles and around the world will continue to fight until justice prevails and a Free, United and Independent Armenia is established.
The protesters vacated the street peacefully and moved to the front of the consulate building, where after singing the Armenian National Anthem, they collectively pledged their resolve and solidarity to Artsakh.
This was part of the Western US community mobilization effort in the wake of the renewed attacks on the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, with members and activists coming together to voice their unified protest against this, the most large-scale attack on Karabakh since the 1994 cease-fire agreement.
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