Defense Chief Did Not Say That, It's Officially Recorded Including Audio – Prime Minister on November 17 Statement

The Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, during a report on the implementation and results of the 2020 government program in the National Assembly, referred to the 44-day war and the statement made by former Defense Chief Onik Gasparyan on November 17, 2020. It was noted that Gasparyan had claimed that on the fourth day of the war, during a meeting of the Security Council, he presented the losses of the Armenian side along with the military assessments regarding the situation and recommended that measures should be taken in the next 2-3 days to stop the war.

“I want to officially record from this podium that Onik Gasparyan’s assertion in the November 17 statement has no relation to reality. The Defense Chief did not say such a thing; this is officially recorded, including in audio form. On the contrary, at the Security Council meeting on September 30, he stated that the adversary had not made any advances; the army and the armed forces are fulfilling the tasks set before them and will carry them out until the end,” detailed Pashinyan.

According to the Prime Minister, the Defense Chief could not have made such a statement on September 30, as he had previously presented a report during the Security Council meeting on August 21, 2020, assuring that “with the existing forces and resources in the direction of Artsakh, we can push back with the principle of ‘no step back,’ thwart the adversary’s attack, and defeat their formations.”