The Myth and Reality of the 'Withdrawal' from Ishkhanasar

Hraparak.am reports: “Yesterday morning, information surfaced on Factor.am that the Azerbaijani forces had withdrawn from Ishkhanasar, adjacent to Sisian in the Syunik region. It is important to recall that as a result of the one-day war on November 16, the Azerbaijani side made advances. It was assumed that an agreement would be reached during the tripartite meeting in Sochi regarding the withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops from the sovereign territory of Armenia, and only after that would the process of demarcation and delimitation begin (from the zero point that Pashinyan favors). However, there was not a single word about this, nor about prisoners, in the text of the tripartite declaration.

Although the verbal part of the meeting discussed the resolution of “humanitarian issues,” the Armenian government's propaganda machine presented it as an agreement on the return of prisoners. Almost a week has passed since the Sochi meeting, and there is no news about Armenian prisoners of war.

Regarding the news about the withdrawal of Azerbaijani forces from Ishkhanasar, the informant was Marat Petrosyan, the head of the administrative region of Ishkhanasar, who told Factor, “Representatives of the Azerbaijani armed forces have withdrawn to the area where the Soviet Azerbaijani border previously passed.” Following the news, we reached out to other sources; our sources from the Sisian military unit did not confirm the information, but rather conveyed that there may have been positional adjustments that left such an impression.

Then, the Ministry of Defense commented on the news about the departure of enemy forces from Ishkhanasar: the “Armenpress” agency published an article titled “The Ministry of Defense neither confirms nor denies the news of the withdrawal of Azerbaijani forces from Ishkhanasar,” in which, however, there was more denial than confirmation: “The Ministry of Defense neither confirmed nor denied the news, urging that information about the border situation, movements of the armed forces, occupied positions, or other actions be disseminated not based on the words of community leaders, but on official announcements from the Ministry of Defense.”

The Deputy Minister of Defense, Arman Sargsyan, also left reporters' questions unanswered during the parliamentary discussion.

After the Ministry's clarification, the words of the representative of the Ishkhanasar administrative region were somewhat “edited” by the acting mayor of Sisian, Hrayr Hakobyan, who stated that it was not a withdrawal but that “they have lightened their weapons and equipment, and leaving the posts is also in progress.”

We tried to contact the head of the Ishkhanasar administration, but Marat Petrosyan became unavailable after granting morning “eye light.” We spoke with the administrative leaders of two neighboring communities. Simultaneously, rumors circulated that government circles were spreading such “spin” to present the Sochi meeting in a positive light. This chain also included the recent “leak” about the supposed return of 81 prisoners, which did not materialize.

The mayor of Ankyakot, Armen Markosyan, exceeded his Ishkhanasar counterpart by outright denying that Azerbaijani forces made advances or infiltrated the sovereign territory of Armenia on November 16. “I can’t provide specific data, but I know they have withdrawn, but that was about 10-15 days ago, they have also withdrawn from their positions, and a no-man's zone has been created. It didn’t just happen; it was because of the army,” Markosyan said.

We reminded him that last week, Nikol Pashinyan reiterated in his press conference that the enemy had entered our sovereign territory and was not leaving. “Well, that 41 kilometers is not just about Sisian, but also includes Gegharkunik... but I say that the army pushed them back with a special operation.” When was that operation? “On November 16... how could they have advanced after that, having fled in disarray. It’s just the representatives of the media who are probably newly interested,” he added.

We noticed that the Ministry of Defense does not confirm this information. “Of course, my statements cannot be taken as official; I am just saying what I have heard.”

We also spoke with the mayor of the neighboring community of Shaki, Vahan Ghazaryan, who said he learned about the withdrawal from the media: “I have also heard that they have gone back, but I cannot say anything.” Don’t you care about this question, for instance, given that the head of Ishkhanasar assured that they have pulled back? “I can’t say anything I can’t substantiate. I only know from the news.”

Member of the “I Have Honor” faction Tigran Abrahamyan did not want to comment on the conflicting information spread, stating, “As long as there is no official confirmation of the withdrawal of Azerbaijani forces from any section, I naturally have no basis to comment. It is not excluded that Azerbaijani forces are choosing positions that will not have supply problems due to winter conditions, and such possible movements are leading to such an inference at this time.” T. Abrahamyan does not rule out that the authorities of Armenia may try to use this fact as positive material and ensure a propaganda effect, but he noted that one should not be encouraged by this: “Even if it were true, it is a small part compared to the areas where Azerbaijani forces have advanced.”