“I apologize to our society and to all worthy generals, but my son was the only general’s son, and I am the only general whose son was wounded during this war. I am proud of my son, his training, and his path, and I can say I did not have much influence over his military service,” the former Minister of Defense, Lieutenant General Seyran Ohanyan told Aravot Daily regarding Nikol Pashinyan’s accusations towards him and his son.
In parliament on Wednesday, Nikol Pashinyan spoke about the loss of the Lele Tepe heights in the 2016 April War and the operation to return it during the 2020 44-Day War. He said, “I was told that this operation was successful in a matter of hours. It was not carried out due to the fact that one of the tank units did not carry out its duty and it did not participate in the operation as planned.”
Jalal Harutyunyan, Artur Ohanyan
Nikol Pashinyan also had announced that he did not have anything to do with the decision to return Lele Tepe. The offer was made by the military command, which was then discussed and accepted.
Despite the fact that the former Minister of Defense is generally against discussing military operations, the number of troops in the army, or issues related to armaments as they also contain some state secrets, in this case, he said, “If the head of the Armenian government says something, it would be good for him to have the courage to give specific names. If he had said who these generals were and what decisions they had made, it would have been clear at the time.”
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Seyran Ohanyan emphasized that in the army’s actions, any former general who is not in office today could not have any influence or the levers needed to make decisions. “Decisions were made in the military system led by the commander-in-chief. All officials have made decisions and they are responsible for their actions,” he said, adding that, in his opinion, the head of state was not fully aware of the situation because decisions are made during war as a result of discussions, but not on the spot.
Seyran Ohanyan expects that Nikol Pashinyan will say where the decision to counterattack was made- in parliament, in government, in the Security Council, at the supreme commander’s headquarters, or at the Defense Army staff with the participation of all military types and services? Seyran Ohanyan is convinced that the decision was made with “a few people without fully being aware of the situation,” and the operation was carried out with incomplete and incomprehensive provisions, as well as inadequate management and cooperation, which is why it did not succeed.
Regarding Nikol Pashinyan’s accusations against Ohanyan and his son about how the opposition general’s son did not fulfill his task and that someone from the “17+1” perhaps called him and told him to stay back, General Seyran Ohanyan said, “I have never been against the people in my life. I have served the state- Armenia, Artsakh, the army, and the people. He was the one who has always been the opposition, and today he is also the opposition to our state, our sovereignty, our army, and our state government. He is also not aware of the situation because we had several tank divisions. The structure of which my son was the commander of a motorized rifle unit. Those two units, the tanks and the motorized rifles, were able to fulfill their tasks somewhat, but they were not able to finish for several reasons. For example, the tank unit’s tanks were almost completely destroyed. My son, already immersed in his tactics, was wounded and replaced by his deputy, but with a few units, they got to the point where they had to do something. But, most importantly, the local unions and those who were supposed to secure the right and left wings and reach the defense after the task was accomplished did not do so because it was not fully organized. Neither the 17+1, which did not exist at the time because it was formed after November 9th, nor myself, who was not a leader, could give my son any indirect orders. He simply participated in the operation, and he was unable to continue after getting injured. He informed the army commander, the army commander replaced him, and he received treatment afterward.”
Nelly Grigoryan
