How Did Artak Davtyan Evade Responsibility for the War, While Gasparyan Became a Scapegoat?

The newspaper "Zhoghovurd" writes: Following the events of July 2020 and the September 44-day war, the former head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia, Onik Gasparyan, became a so-called scapegoat.

How did this happen? Let’s try to connect and analyze the events as they transpired: Artak Davtyan was dismissed from the position of Chief of Staff on June 8, 2020, and on the same day, Onik Gasparyan was appointed to that position. It was officially stated that the reason for Davtyan's dismissal was the wedding of his son at his private residence during the strict quarantine conditions of the coronavirus pandemic, which included several dozen attendees. However, it is noteworthy that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had prior knowledge of the wedding. He was aware that Artak Davtyan’s son was getting married, and it later became clear that the real reasons for his dismissal were different from the organization of the wedding.

Just four days after Gasparyan’s appointment, the TAVUSH incidents began. Officially, it was explained that on the morning of July 12, Azerbaijani servicemen attempted to approach Armenian military positions using a UAZ brand vehicle. We emerged honorably from that minor incident, but during the September events, when the 44-day war in Artsakh began, we faced defeat.

Gasparyan was dismissed under rather dubious circumstances. After all this, when he contested his dismissal in court, Artak Davtyan was reappointed "clean" to the same Chief of Staff position. This raises a logical question: Why did Artak Davtyan evade responsibility for the war?

For more details, refer to today’s issue of the newspaper.