Serzh Sargsyan Issues Statement

The third President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, has issued a statement ahead of the session of the RA National Assembly investigative committee.

Below is the statement:

“Today, the third President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, visited the National Assembly to attend a session of the investigative committee examining the circumstances surrounding the military operations that took place in April 2016, and to answer questions posed by committee members regarding the topic, providing information that, presumably, the committee members might not have.

President Sargsyan agreed to participate in these hearings as he believes it is his duty to close all discussions surrounding the April Four-Day War.

Before the committee's session, the third President of the Republic made a statement in which he said:

“The issue of the April War must not, under any circumstances, divide our people, weaken our unity, or endanger our resilience. Four years ago, we were treacherously attacked by the adversary. During the wide-scale military operations unleashed in April, Azerbaijan used almost all categories of armaments at its disposal, but the Defense Army and the thousands of volunteers who came to its aid moments later heroically defended their entrusted territories and thwarted the adversary's intentions. I am proud of our army. In April 2016, our boys fought with exceptional bravery. As the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, I have had several occasions to say that during the April Four-Day War, our soldiers and commanders surpassed their heroic fathers and grandfathers who participated in the Artsakh liberation struggle with their courage. They crushed and halted the advance of Azerbaijan's elite units and, according to intelligence data from our partners both abroad and at home, inflicted multiple times higher losses on the adversary than we sustained.

My thoughts and prayers are with every family that lost sons in the war. I mourn deeply for our fallen heroes and sadly acknowledge that in this and any other war, it is impossible to save everyone. Land is preserved with blood. And glory to all those whose blood has soaked the soil of our homeland. The families of our soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the homeland should only feel the greatest pride for their sons and must not succumb to provocations in any case. No one has the right to muddy their thoughts with filthy suspicions and to hurt their souls once again. First and foremost, those who consciously chose their deaths and became immortalized will not forgive such actions.

The soldiers of the Armenian Army once again taught the adversary a lesson, inflicting heavy losses and temporarily restraining Azerbaijan's military ambitions. However, the day will come when Baku will attempt to do the same again, and when they take that step, it will again be impossible to save everyone. The reason is not that our army is poorly managed. If we want to have no losses at all, then we must abandon the national goal of living freely and with dignity in our homeland.

After the war, negotiations on the diplomatic front with the adversary must lead to peace and ensure the implementation of that agreement, but not at the expense of the vital interests of our people. This is not a “live show” intended for social networks; this is real international politics, including actions taking place behind the scenes. We do not have the right to be divided on issues of national significance, firstly regarding the issue of Artsakh. That could cost us dearly in terms of our statehood and our people. Let us be vigilant and consider any such attempt from this perspective.

I myself have questions regarding the doubts planted in society by certain forces concerning the victory of the Armenian army in accordance with all the rules of warfare, various speculations, the purpose of establishing the parliamentary investigation committee concerning the April War, and several other topics. We will address these together soon and draw conclusions.

And today, at this committee session, I am prepared to look directly into the eyes of the committee members and say what I know and also what I think…”,

reads the statement of the third President of the Republic of Armenia.