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TAVUSH TROUBLE: QUESTIONS LINGER ON AFTER CARNAGE OF ARMENIAN SOLDIERS NEAR BORDER WITH AZERBAIJAN
By Gohar Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow
02.05.12 | 13:22
Photo: Gohar Abrahamyan/ArmeniaNow.com
Last week's news of three Armenian servicemen murdered in an apparent
ambush attack near the border with Azerbaijan continues to draw
reactions and cause speculations both in the media and among common
citizens.
Late last week, the Armenian Defense Ministry reported that three
soldiers were killed on the road between the villages of Movses
and Aygepar in Armenia's northeastern Tavush province as the car
on which they were traveling in the small hours of April 27 came
under what appeared to be an Azeri shelling. It was later reported
that one serviceman survived the attack almost unscathed. No other
circumstances of the incident were reported.
The three men who died were later identified as 27-year-old David
Abgaryan, 25-year-old Aram Yesayan and 21-year-old Arshak Nersisyan.
All were natives of the nearby town of Berd and had served in the
Armenian armed forces under contracts. The survivor, 27-year-old
Arkady Yesayan, is also from Berd and is also a contract serviceman.
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
representatives conducted a ceasefire monitoring of the
Armenian-Azerbaijan border in the troubled section on Monday, reporting
no incidents during their short mission. Accompanied by the Armenian
military, the field aides to the OSCE chairman-in-office also visited
the site of the Friday deadly attack, while at the Berd military
police precinct they were allowed to have a detailed examination and
take pictures and video of the vehicle that came under fire.
The OSCE officials were also told that Azeri drones were seen in the
sky during the days leading to the attack on the ground.
An Armenian investigation is still on in connection with that incident
and no official version of the events has yet been announced.
However, different speculations were made in the immediate aftermath
of the incident and later on. Some media spread information according
to which the bodies had been mutilated. This would be direct
evidence of an infiltration by a group of Azeri commandos into the
Armenian-controlled territory. According to some unverified media
reports, the Armenian soldiers were AWOL and did not possess weapons
when confronted by Azeri commandos, becoming easy prey.
Meanwhile, some initial speculation also included a possible internal
argument resulting in a shootout. Within hours after the news was
reported, Helsinki Citizens Assembly Vanadzor Office Director Artur
Sakunts postedd a comment in a Facebook discussion group claiming to
having received information "from several sources" that "the contract
servicemen were killed as a result of a dispute among themselves in
which firearms were used."
"There is also information that there were more people involved
in it...
It is not yet clear what the reason for the argument was....
Unfortunately, we again have to deal with deaths in the ranks caused
by the violation of the rules of discipline," said the human rights
activist.
Sakunts himself, however, denied this version the following day after
visiting the scene. He described it as "surely a sabotage activity"
after what he witnessed there.
One resident in Berd also doubted it could have been the result of
a firefight among the fellow soldiers as he talked to ArmeniaNow at
the weekend.
"Many people say that these guys had a fight and killed each other,
but I can say with certitude that there was no such thing. They grew
up before our eyes, all were from this area, were very close to each
other. Only Azeris could do that," he said.
During the soldiers' funeral, attended by hundreds of people near
Berd's house of culture, Chairman of the Council of War Veterans of
Armenia Simon Yesayan called the deadly incident "a result of the
base policies and bloody activities of Azerbaijan" - a country that,
he said, still cannot put up with the defeat that it suffered in the
Karabakh war in 1994.
"I am sure that they had another goal - to capture a village or a
military base, but an encounter with these guys upset their heinous
plans," said Yesayan.
The attack followed days of intensified ceasefire violations near the
border in Tavush. In one such violation last Wednesday Azeri snipers
fired shots at a kindergarten in the Armenian border village of Dovegh,
necessitating a prompt evacuation of the children and personnel.
ArmeniaNow also visited the only survivor of the attack, Arkady
Yesayan. The soldier who is still recovering from shock has no serious
health problems otherwise.
By Gohar Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow
02.05.12 | 13:22
Photo: Gohar Abrahamyan/ArmeniaNow.com
Last week's news of three Armenian servicemen murdered in an apparent
ambush attack near the border with Azerbaijan continues to draw
reactions and cause speculations both in the media and among common
citizens.
Late last week, the Armenian Defense Ministry reported that three
soldiers were killed on the road between the villages of Movses
and Aygepar in Armenia's northeastern Tavush province as the car
on which they were traveling in the small hours of April 27 came
under what appeared to be an Azeri shelling. It was later reported
that one serviceman survived the attack almost unscathed. No other
circumstances of the incident were reported.
The three men who died were later identified as 27-year-old David
Abgaryan, 25-year-old Aram Yesayan and 21-year-old Arshak Nersisyan.
All were natives of the nearby town of Berd and had served in the
Armenian armed forces under contracts. The survivor, 27-year-old
Arkady Yesayan, is also from Berd and is also a contract serviceman.
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
representatives conducted a ceasefire monitoring of the
Armenian-Azerbaijan border in the troubled section on Monday, reporting
no incidents during their short mission. Accompanied by the Armenian
military, the field aides to the OSCE chairman-in-office also visited
the site of the Friday deadly attack, while at the Berd military
police precinct they were allowed to have a detailed examination and
take pictures and video of the vehicle that came under fire.
The OSCE officials were also told that Azeri drones were seen in the
sky during the days leading to the attack on the ground.
An Armenian investigation is still on in connection with that incident
and no official version of the events has yet been announced.
However, different speculations were made in the immediate aftermath
of the incident and later on. Some media spread information according
to which the bodies had been mutilated. This would be direct
evidence of an infiltration by a group of Azeri commandos into the
Armenian-controlled territory. According to some unverified media
reports, the Armenian soldiers were AWOL and did not possess weapons
when confronted by Azeri commandos, becoming easy prey.
Meanwhile, some initial speculation also included a possible internal
argument resulting in a shootout. Within hours after the news was
reported, Helsinki Citizens Assembly Vanadzor Office Director Artur
Sakunts postedd a comment in a Facebook discussion group claiming to
having received information "from several sources" that "the contract
servicemen were killed as a result of a dispute among themselves in
which firearms were used."
"There is also information that there were more people involved
in it...
It is not yet clear what the reason for the argument was....
Unfortunately, we again have to deal with deaths in the ranks caused
by the violation of the rules of discipline," said the human rights
activist.
Sakunts himself, however, denied this version the following day after
visiting the scene. He described it as "surely a sabotage activity"
after what he witnessed there.
One resident in Berd also doubted it could have been the result of
a firefight among the fellow soldiers as he talked to ArmeniaNow at
the weekend.
"Many people say that these guys had a fight and killed each other,
but I can say with certitude that there was no such thing. They grew
up before our eyes, all were from this area, were very close to each
other. Only Azeris could do that," he said.
During the soldiers' funeral, attended by hundreds of people near
Berd's house of culture, Chairman of the Council of War Veterans of
Armenia Simon Yesayan called the deadly incident "a result of the
base policies and bloody activities of Azerbaijan" - a country that,
he said, still cannot put up with the defeat that it suffered in the
Karabakh war in 1994.
"I am sure that they had another goal - to capture a village or a
military base, but an encounter with these guys upset their heinous
plans," said Yesayan.
The attack followed days of intensified ceasefire violations near the
border in Tavush. In one such violation last Wednesday Azeri snipers
fired shots at a kindergarten in the Armenian border village of Dovegh,
necessitating a prompt evacuation of the children and personnel.
ArmeniaNow also visited the only survivor of the attack, Arkady
Yesayan. The soldier who is still recovering from shock has no serious
health problems otherwise.