Arsen Torosyan on Speculations Regarding the Number of Casualties in the 44-Day War

Arsen Torosyan, a member of the National Assembly from the "Civil Contract" faction, has stated that the number of casualties in the 44-day war is accurate and not being concealed.

"I did not want to address this painful issue, but the ongoing manipulations and falsehoods surrounding this matter, even after the Prime Minister's comments during the National Assembly Q&A, which often cross the line of morality, compel me to do so. What is tragic is that this is being said by individuals who have held leadership positions in the armed forces, even having been the Supreme Commander, and they know very well how these numbers are formed and who provides this statistical information. They also know that the responsible parties are professionals and would never resort to deception; moreover, many of them were the ones who appointed these individuals to those positions in the first place.

I have been convinced since 2016, during the April War, when I held the position of statistician in the military medical division of the Defense Army of Artsakh and personally took part in gathering data on the number of wounded, that our state governing bodies do not conceal the real figures of our losses. Now, returning to the 44-day war, I want to inform you that the information regarding our casualties at the Investigative Committee is formed based on forensic examinations (including forensic genetic examinations) of the bodies and remains of the victims conducted by our forensic service. Both state bodies have been in Stepanakert since September 27, 2020; I have personally attended this process multiple times, and I want to say that only someone who wishes to cause more pain to our people could fabricate these already unimaginably painful figures and attempt to present our losses as greater than they are. Only someone who delights in our losses could claim that we had not 3,812 casualties (and 217 missing persons), but 5,000, 6,000, or more. Only an individual with moral issues would assert that we had tens of thousands of wounded instead of nearly 7,500.

Ladies and gentlemen, have you ever asked yourselves which country's or people's interests you are defending?

PS: In the photo, I am with the heads of the forensic services of Armenia and Artsakh in the underground hideout of the Stepanakert forensic medical center on October 5, 2020, when Stepanakert was being bombarded, and forensic doctors had to hide in order to continue their service after the shelling.