Who Ordered the Troops from Karintak to Withdraw on November 3: Details of the Shushi Surrender Process

The defense of Shushi should have been organized from Hadrut. This was stated today during a press conference by the Mayor of Shushi, Artavazik Sargsyan.

According to Sargsyan, it has been noted every time that they were retreating to avoid bombardment, to encircle the enemy, to end their campaign. “But by retreating, they reached the outskirts of Shushi, the village of Karintak. The command was either poorly organized or there was no leadership. I have also heard that some Azerbaijanis mingled with Armenians who said that a retreat was necessary. If it had been organized properly, if there had been commanders, the troops could have held their positions and would not have retreated. I can specifically mention Karintak. When the enemy approached the outskirts of Sghnakh, we had troops in Karintak, which I don't know how they withdrew on the 3rd, after which enemy equipment came and reached where those troops had been standing. How could the people of Karintak defend themselves under those conditions? The person from Karintak was the one who fought for 12 hours in 1992 and never retreated, surrounded the enemy, and rescued others, which is why the Azerbaijanis called the village 'Bloodied Gorge'. I expected that at least in Karintak it would have been the same,” he said.

Sargsyan noted that the artillery had also not been operating properly, and there had been no mortars in that area. “We went to take positions, but there were no mortars; if there had been, they could have devastated the enemy. I don’t know how it was organized; it is still unclear who ordered the troops from Karintak to withdraw and why such an order was given,” he added, stating that this was the result.