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MONTE'S PATRIOTISM SHOULD BE DISSEMINATED IN GENERATIONS
ARMENPRESS
11 June, 2012
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, JUNE 12, ARMENPRESS: June 12 marks the day of death of
Armenian national hero Monte Melkonyan. Pavel Manukyan, who has
participated in military activities in Karvachar together with Monte,
has given an interview to Armenpress.
Speaking to Armenpress, Pavel Manukyan said Armenian people should
keep Monte's commandments in their heart. Monte was one of the unique
heroes, whom Armenian people owe a lot, he noted.
The speaker said strong are the people who manage to retain their
heroes. And from that viewpoint our heroes should be very "close"
and available to growing generations, becoming an example with their
life and activity, he underlined.
The speaker advised young people to take from Monte his high
patriotism. "If Monte had not come to Karabakh, we would give many
victims. Monte has had a great contribution to the battles," Mr
Manukyan said.
Referring to the Azerbaijani recent provocations at the
Armenian-Azerbaijani border, Mr Mnaukyan noted that today Azerbaijan
is in front of a dilemma - it must chose between concession and
clashes. And Karabakh is ready for a clash.
Monte Melkonyan was a famed Armenian commander during Nagorno-Karabakh
war.
Melkonian had no prior service record in any country's army before
being placed in command of an estimated 4,000 men in the war. He had
largely built his military experience beginning from the late 1970s
and 1980s where he fought against the various splintering factions in
the Lebanese Civil War, against Israeli troops in the Israeli invasion
of Lebanon and was a member of the Armenian organization ASALA..
An Armenian-American, Melkonyan left the United States and arrived
in Iran in 1978 during the beginning of the 1979 Iranian Revolution,
taking part in demonstrations against the Shah.
Following the collapse of the Shah's monarchy in 1979, he traveled to
Lebanon during the height of the civil war and served in an Armenia
militia group in the Beirut suburb of Bourj Hammoud.
In ASALA, he took part in the assassinations of several Turkish
diplomats in Europe during the early to mid-1980s and was later
arrested and sent to prison in France. In 1989, he was released and
in the following year, acquired a visa to travel to Armenia.
Throughout his tenure, Melkonyan carried several different aliases
including "Abu Sindi", "Saro", "Timothy Sean McCormack" and "Commander
Avo"; the last of which was the name addressed by troops under his
command in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The last years of his life were spent fighting with the
Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army. Monte was killed in the abandoned
Nagorno-Karabakh village of Merzuli in the early afternoon of June 12,
1993, with controversial reports about the circumstances of his death
and was subsequently buried at Yerablur cemetery in Yerevan, Armenia.
He is revered as an Armenian national hero.
ARMENPRESS
11 June, 2012
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, JUNE 12, ARMENPRESS: June 12 marks the day of death of
Armenian national hero Monte Melkonyan. Pavel Manukyan, who has
participated in military activities in Karvachar together with Monte,
has given an interview to Armenpress.
Speaking to Armenpress, Pavel Manukyan said Armenian people should
keep Monte's commandments in their heart. Monte was one of the unique
heroes, whom Armenian people owe a lot, he noted.
The speaker said strong are the people who manage to retain their
heroes. And from that viewpoint our heroes should be very "close"
and available to growing generations, becoming an example with their
life and activity, he underlined.
The speaker advised young people to take from Monte his high
patriotism. "If Monte had not come to Karabakh, we would give many
victims. Monte has had a great contribution to the battles," Mr
Manukyan said.
Referring to the Azerbaijani recent provocations at the
Armenian-Azerbaijani border, Mr Mnaukyan noted that today Azerbaijan
is in front of a dilemma - it must chose between concession and
clashes. And Karabakh is ready for a clash.
Monte Melkonyan was a famed Armenian commander during Nagorno-Karabakh
war.
Melkonian had no prior service record in any country's army before
being placed in command of an estimated 4,000 men in the war. He had
largely built his military experience beginning from the late 1970s
and 1980s where he fought against the various splintering factions in
the Lebanese Civil War, against Israeli troops in the Israeli invasion
of Lebanon and was a member of the Armenian organization ASALA..
An Armenian-American, Melkonyan left the United States and arrived
in Iran in 1978 during the beginning of the 1979 Iranian Revolution,
taking part in demonstrations against the Shah.
Following the collapse of the Shah's monarchy in 1979, he traveled to
Lebanon during the height of the civil war and served in an Armenia
militia group in the Beirut suburb of Bourj Hammoud.
In ASALA, he took part in the assassinations of several Turkish
diplomats in Europe during the early to mid-1980s and was later
arrested and sent to prison in France. In 1989, he was released and
in the following year, acquired a visa to travel to Armenia.
Throughout his tenure, Melkonyan carried several different aliases
including "Abu Sindi", "Saro", "Timothy Sean McCormack" and "Commander
Avo"; the last of which was the name addressed by troops under his
command in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The last years of his life were spent fighting with the
Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army. Monte was killed in the abandoned
Nagorno-Karabakh village of Merzuli in the early afternoon of June 12,
1993, with controversial reports about the circumstances of his death
and was subsequently buried at Yerablur cemetery in Yerevan, Armenia.
He is revered as an Armenian national hero.