Onik Gasparyan Did Not Propose Any Actions to Halt the War: Security Council Clarifies David Tonoyan's Statement

The Security Council of the Republic of Armenia has released a clarification regarding a statement made by former Minister of Defense David Tonoyan during an interview with News.am on May 5.

“In response to the statements made by former Minister of Defense David Tonoyan during his interview with News.am on May 5, the office of the Security Council finds it necessary to clarify the claim made in this interview, regarding which Onik Gasparyan supposedly raised the need to halt the war on the fourth day of the conflict,” the statement reads.

In relation to this claim, the Security Council presents excerpts from Onik Gasparyan's report during the meeting of the Security Council held on September 30, 2020. In these excerpts, Mr. Gasparyan notably states: “Mr. Prime Minister, the situation has not changed tactically, meaning the adversary has not achieved any progress... Nevertheless, the troops are fulfilling their tasks; in the morning we carried out a minor counterattack toward Jabrail, and we achieved some successes...” He concluded his speech by affirming: “This is the situation; we will continue to fulfill our task up to the end.”

The office of the Security Council once again publishes the audio recording of the released excerpts from the minutes of the September 30, 2020, meeting and reaffirms that Onik Gasparyan did not propose any actions to halt the war during the Security Council meeting on the fourth day of the war.