Serzh Sargsyan: The Issue of the April War Should in No Way Set Discord in the People, Undermine our Unity and Endanger our Defense Capabilities

Today, Third President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan visited the National Assembly to attend the meeting of the Special Investigative Committee that has been set up to probe into the hostilities of April, 2016. The President will answer the questions of interest to Commission members and will provide information presumably unknown to the Commission.

President Sargsyan has agreed to take part in the hearings, as he considers it his duty to close the issue of all kinds of speculations related to the Four-Day April War.

Before the sitting of the Commission, the Third President of the Republic of Armenia made a statement, which reads:

“The issue of the April War should in no way set discord in the people, undermine our unity and endanger our defense capabilities. Four years ago, we faced a military aggression on the part of the enemy. During the four-day large-scale hostilities, Azerbaijan used almost all its military arsenal, but the defense army and thousands of volunteers who arrived a few minutes later heroically defended their territories and thwarted the enemy’s intentions.

I am proud of our army. In April 2016, our boys fought with great courage. As Commander-in-Chief, I have repeatedly said that our soldiers and commanders bravely surpassed their heroic fathers and grandfathers who had excelled in the Artsakh liberation war. They defeated and stopped the advance of Azerbaijan’s elite units, and according to the intelligence of some of us and some of our foreign partners, they inflicted far more losses on the enemy than what we had suffered.

My thoughts and prayers are with those families that lost their sons in the war. I mourn the death of our martyred boys with deep sorrow and regret that it is impossible to save people’s lives in wartime.

The defense of the homeland calls for blood. And glory to all those blood is soaked in the soil of our homeland. The relatives of our soldiers who died for the homeland should live with a sense of greatest pride for their sons. No one has the right to provoke them with unclean suspicions and hurt their souls once again. First of all, our immortal boys who chose to die consciously will not forgive such people.

The soldiers of the Armenian army once again taught a lesson to the enemy by inflicting heavy losses and restraining Azerbaijan’s belligerent aspirations. However, the day will come when Baku will try to do the same again, and when they take that step, it will be impossible to save everyone again. The reason is not that our army is poorly managed. If we want to have no losses, then we must give up the noble goal of living freely and with dignity in our own homeland.

Post-war negotiations with the enemy should bring us peace and ensure the enforcement of the agreement signed to that effect, but not at the expense of our people’s vital interests. This is not a live show intended for social networks: this is a real-time global policy with backstage actions.

We do not have the right to be divided on issues of national importance, first of all, as regards the Artsakh issue. It can hit hard our statehood and national interests. Let us be vigilant and consider any such attempt from this very perspective.

I myself have serious queries as to the reasons behind some forces’ attempts to sow doubt about our victory, fuel dirty speculation, set up a parliamentary commission to probe into the April hostilities and other such controversial demarches.

We will return to these together and draw conclusions. Today, at the sitting of that commission, I am going to look right into the eyes of the commissioners and say what I know and what I think.”