Steps Taken to Uncover Circumstances of the 44-Day War Are Messages to Opponents: Hovhannisyan

In the government program for 2021-2026, the adjustments regarding taking effective steps to reveal all circumstances of the 44-day war and conducting a detailed investigation are nothing more than messages directed at political opponents. This opinion was expressed by military expert Karen Hovhannisyan in an interview with Sputnik Armenia.

According to him, a legal basis must be established for the objective investigation of both the four-day and the forty-four-day wars, which, in turn, would entail legal processes. He stated, "The structure or commission that should be created must represent a body where all the analyses made in the Ministry of Defense, Armed Forces, government, and all types of interested organizations would be included, based on which the investigation would take place. Otherwise, this is just another step directed at political opponents or supporters, nothing more."

Commenting on the authorities' readiness to create an ad hoc parliamentary commission to investigate the consequences of the 44-day war, Hovhannisyan noted that he is completely against the establishment of such commissions in the legislature. He emphasized, "After all, there are also military secrets that certain lawmakers should not have access to, as there are MPs who have not even served, let alone have access to military secrets."

In the military expert's view, the investigation process of the war should be entrusted exclusively to law enforcement agencies, and a military tribunal should be established that will also investigate recent events in the Gegharkunik region and Yeraskh and provide appropriate conclusions.

It should be noted that it became known today that on Sunday, August 22, the government's activity program for 2021-2026 underwent a change through a written procedure; this change pertains to the investigation of the circumstances of the 44-day Artsakh war. The revised version states that the government emphasizes the importance of revealing all circumstances of the 2020 44-day war and will take effective steps toward conducting a comprehensive and detailed investigation, whereas the initial version of the government’s activity program did not foresee an examination or uncovering of the circumstances of the war. The program has already been submitted for parliamentary discussion and approval, and is scheduled for discussion in the session on August 24.