“We were on combat duty in your military base from October 5th till November 12th. We want to know if our names are registered at your base?” Hovhannes Shahbazyan, who carried out combat duty at the Martuni 3 base with nine other soldiers, asked the Martuni 3 military base’s financial department representative due to the fact that none of their names are registered on any list. The soldiers said that the fact that they participated in the military hostilities is not recorded in any document.
They held protests by the General Staff today to demand that their names be registered.
The Martuni 3 base informed the soldier that their names are not registered at the base. Before coming here, the soldiers went to the Ministry of Defense, where they were redirected to the General Staff. They were taken to Artsakh on October 2nd from the Charentsavan commissariat.
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“If we did not return, who would have told our parents and relatives? On October 2nd, we gave our service booklets to the Charentsavan commissariat, and we have not seen the booklets since then. They took us Haykazov, and from there, we went to Khojaly, Askeran, back to Haykazov, and back to Askeran and Khojaly. They finally gave us a uniform and sent us to Baluja (Aygestan), where we received weapons, and then they took us to Astghadzor, and finally Martuni 3. But our names are not registered anywhere,” Hovhannes said.
According to Hovhannes, “They told us that we are going to Artsakh. They sent an officer from Yeghvard with us who disappeared. So, we neither had an officer nor our service booklets with us. They would come and write our names down every few days. They said they were writing our names so that our families can be provided with financial assistance or, God forbid, any health problems that arise can be resolved.”
According to the soldiers, they did not volunteer. Instead, they received a notice that they must go to the commissariat.
It is important to mention that there were three soldiers from Artsakh who departed Charentsavan with them, and they were registered and provided with the proper assistance as normal.
The soldiers said that they have videos and recordings from the war, but they will not publish these yet. They are waiting for a response from the ministry, and if they do not receive one, they will publish the evidence. “They are facts that prove that we were fighting. They are telling us that we must have not been there if our names have not been registered. Our service booklets remained in Aygestan. At the time, Aygestan was being shelled. The situation was serious and everyone was being evacuated. We keep calling people and informing them that we participated in the war from this date to this date, but they are telling us that our names are not registered anywhere. The evidence they have is that we went to the commissariat on October 2nd in Charentsavan. We went to Artsakh, and then on November 13th, we went back to the commissariat and informed them that we returned,” one of the soldiers who participated in the war but was not registered said.
They showed the stamped notice from the commissariat, according to which they left and returned. “We went and returned, but there are no facts that state where we went, where we fought, and which battle we participated in. The commissariat said that we must file an appeal. We did, but they don’t know, so we sent them the appeal. Why were they coming to ask us for our names if they weren’t going to register us anywhere? The former Chief of Staff did that, but he died in war.”
They said that the commander of Martuni 3’s third battalion can confirm that they participated in the war. “We were in the 7th regiment of the third battalion. We carried out combat duty at the 142-143 base, where we were 25 meters away from the enemy. We did not have normal weapons.” The General Staff invited three protesters inside.
“Lieutenant Colonel Zargaryan said that we must present all documents and evidence tomorrow and file an appeal. Those appeals will be sent to the Ministry of Defense, the Chief of General Staff, and the Defense Army of Artsakh so that these issues can be resolved in a short period of time,” one of the soldiers who participated in the meeting said. According to him, the General Staff implied that the mistake was made by the Defense Army of Artsakh.
Lusine Budaghyan
