What Happened, Happened in Recent Days. Artak Davtyan on Our Defeat in the War

Recently, former President Serj Sargsyan, in a well-known interview discussing the reasons for the recent war in Artsakh and the defeat, hinted several times that the "chief of staff has also not played his role. But at the same time, Mr. Sargsyan hinted that even if the chief of staff had the desire, he could hardly have accomplished everything properly simply because he lacked the appropriate experience. Moreover, the frequent changes of the chief of staff should have produced such results: "Changing three chiefs of staff in two years. Is the chief of staff a toy for you?" the third president emphasized.

So, what do the chiefs of staff of the Nikol Pashinyan era think about this? In an effort to find answers regarding the shortcomings of the 44-day war, the mystery of Shushi, the priorities of warfare, and how prepared the army is with the existing resources for potential challenges, "Iravunk" sought comments from former chief of staff Artak Davtyan.

- Mr. Davtyan, why did the 44-day war end with such an outcome—thousands of casualties, injuries, missing heroic men, captives, and significant losses of territory in Artsakh? What was the main shortfall in this defeat?

- There were both deficiencies and shortcomings in the 44-day war that could have been avoided. However, to clearly present the causes of the shortcomings, one must have accurate information internally, which, unfortunately, I do not have. I can say one thing clearly: the enemy was quite strong, and we were not weak either. The soldiers and officers fought until their last breath. In the end, combat operations were carried out for 44 days, and along the entire front line, the enemy did not achieve success. Whatever happened, happened in the last days; something went wrong. I cannot say what, as I am not aware of the details, but these details and shortcomings must definitely be brought to light. I am personally ready to participate in the commission to uncover the causes of the results of the war.

- Mr. Davtyan, the capture of Shushi remains a mystery. I am curious about your perspective—was Shushi captured, or was it surrendered?

- What happened in Shushi is, first and foremost, a great pain for me, a tragedy. The answer to what happened in Shushi, how the enemy reached there, is unclear even for the soldiers who were present in Shushi. Therefore, just as the outcome of the entire war needs to be studied in detail, so does what happened with Shushi. At this moment, I will refrain from making any conclusions.

- Is the army prepared to confront the challenges posed by the enemy with the existing resources, considering that we see Aliyev's appetite growing?

- If you mean conducting wars of similar scale again, then it will be very difficult for us. Under any circumstances, the army is ready to fulfill the tasks posed to it; however, how effective that task will be or how many casualties we will have is a second question. Overall, the army, even if it has just one unit and one military, is still prepared to fulfill its tasks. I repeat, if by challenges you mean maintaining the current borders, then yes, it can certainly be implemented. However, if you mean conducting wars of a similar kind in the near future, then it will be very difficult to predict the results.

- Mr. Davtyan, the 44-day war showed that, nevertheless, our army is not prepared for fifth-generation warfare. What are the army's priorities today?

- I believe that the army must first psychologically emerge from this heavy situation and not adopt the mindset of a defeated nation. I consider the organization of combat service with new outlines a priority. In addition to supplies and accumulation of military technology among the army's priorities, significant attention must be paid to replenishing the officer corps, especially with squad commanders. Great work must be done in this regard so that new generations believe in the army, the service, and so that young people again desire to become officers and continue their service.

Read the full article in today's issue of the newspaper.