Why Have You Given the Army Only Orders to 'Surrender and Retreat'? Edik Baghdasaryan

Edik Baghdasaryan, editor of 'Hetq', wrote on his Facebook page: 'The Azerbaijani armed forces have surrounded and captured six Armenian servicemen. It is already shameful to live. But Nikol and the My Step members have no sense of shame. They make it so that Armenians would be ashamed to live even in other countries. Whether you are in Los Angeles, Paris, Moscow, or Kyiv, soon you will start hiding your Armenian identity, you will hide out of shame. Let's set Nikol and the My Step members aside; they have created chaos in the country and are trying to at least make it somewhat manageable. My remarks are directed at the military leadership. Why have you given the army only orders to 'surrender and retreat'? How could the enemy approach our territory where mine-layers are present, and where was the subdivision responsible for monitoring the area? After this incident, can we assume that all our soldiers stationed at the border can be taken captive?

Although I rarely recount this, I want to bring up an example from my experience. In February 1992, I participated in mine-laying work twice, closing the entrance to Martuni city from enemy military equipment. The enemy had accumulated a considerable amount of military equipment in the villages of Amiryanlar and Kurapatkino opposite Martuni city, and we were expecting an attack. During the mine-laying, two of us were placing mines at night, in the dark, while three others secured our safety; in other words, we were calmly doing our job knowing that the guys were observing from a distance. In one instance, they alerted us to halt our work, and we stepped off the road and hid as they noticed enemy movement. About half an hour later, they informed us that we could resume.

I mention this because everything was so clearly organized that it would be nearly impossible to operate otherwise. Now I want to say: it is only and solely due to your fault that what is happening has occurred; you are unable to manage the army, and you should only be held accountable.'