April War hero Captain Armenak Urfanyan’s mother, Hamest Nersisyan, expressed her dissatisfaction with the former authorities. She said that she is insulted by the fact that the title of Hero of Artsakh or Hero of Armenia was not bestowed upon her son. She said that she feels as though this is unfair, and she demanded an explanation from the authorities and former Minister of Defense Vigen Sargsyan, saying that her son deserved the medal that he secured with his blood.
When Aravot Daily had relayed the hero’s mother’s message to Vigen Sargsyan, he explained the reason for the decision’s denial. “This process is not solvable by one person or one new minister. Every similar case is examined in detail and the circumstances are compared. Special committees present the case to the Minister of Defense, who then presents it to the President and a decision is made. State awards and titles are very special ways in which we express our gratitude, but I believe that we as a society and state have matured enough to not only limit ourselves to those methods.”
On January 28th, Aravot Daily asked Ms. Nersisyan about how Urfanyan did not receive the title of a hero under these authorities either, as well as whether or not she had appealed to the authorities and if so, what their response was. She responded, “This issue has not been resolved in any way. After the revolution, I appealed to Pashinyan and he said that he will give the order for the case to be reviewed. I said if not, please tell me why and tell me whether or not my son is a hero. This is important for me. I am alive today because of my son. He needs to get what he deserves. He won this with his blood.”
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Aravot asked her about if the government said that a special committee needs to make this decision because of specific standards. Ms. Nersisyan said, “No, they didn’t tell me anything like that. Vigen Sargsyan probably just didn’t want to get involved. He told me that the people are the ones to give the title of a hero and Armenak will be remembered as a remarkable hero in history. I told Vigen Sargsyan, ‘If he’s not a hero, then give me your response in writing and I will appeal to the appropriate place.’ And he asked me, ‘But who’s saying that he’s not a hero?’ I didn’t appeal to Davit Tonoyan this time- I appealed to the Prime Minister instead. Officers are the backbone of the army. If the commander didn’t stand up, no one else would have, either.”
Hripsime Jebejyan
