Father of 19-Year-Old Soldier Recently Returned from Captivity Appeals to Naira Zohrabyan: Will His Son Be Sent for Service Again?

MP Naira Zohrabyan from the Prosperous Armenia party wrote on her Facebook page:

“The 19-year-old Robert Vardanyan, who was recently returned from Azerbaijani captivity, is still in the Muratsan hospital. Robert was among the four boys who got trapped in Hadrut and were captured on November 28-29, after the end of the war. Robert's father, Hayk, told me that they learned of the boys' captivity only from a widely circulated video on Azerbaijani Telegram channels. Now, as the father explains, his son still needs serious medical treatment.”

“Why did Robert’s father reach out to me? Because he heard that soon his son, a recent draftee, was to be sent back to serve. The father insists that his son is in such a physical and especially psychological condition that he cannot continue his service.”

“Incidentally, I had been approached by the relatives of Arayik Galstyan, who spent 80 days in captivity and was freed on February 9. Arayik was among the group of boys who had sheltered for 40 days in a house in the village of Van in Hadrut before being captured. Arayik also has serious health issues and, according to his family, is in a severe psychological state, yet he has already been notified that he must go to serve.”

“I believe this is an unacceptable approach, and those sending the boys who have returned from captivity back to service probably do not understand what captivity means, especially Azerbaijani captivity. These boys need serious socio-psychological rehabilitation, and instead of sending them back to barracks, the state must focus on restoring their health and social integration.”

“All justifications that they will be assigned to a lighter regime of service are not serious, since they have returned from Aliyev's grasp and cannot serve for a significant period of time. And since Armenian legislation does not provide any privileges for servicemen returning from captivity, I have already prepared a draft law that stipulates that those who return from captivity are entitled to a deferral, and those with serious health issues will be exempted from military service following the conclusion of a professional committee.”

“This is fair. This is just. And now I appeal to the Minister of Defense, proposing that they discuss the issue of granting deferral to soldiers returned from Azerbaijani captivity, and completely exempting those who have gone through serious physical and psychological trauma from service.”

“We did nothing for these boys to ensure they serve their homeland and return home; we did nothing while they awaited help for dozens of days in captivity, and some were killed while others were captured. Now we must at least do the bare minimum for those who have returned from the Turkish captivity.”