Communication with the Post Severed at 5 AM, Nobody Tells Us What Happened There: Relative of the Deceased

In the early hours of Azerbaijan's latest military aggression against Armenia, communication with the personnel at Position N in Jermuk was abruptly severed. No one is aware of what transpired during those critical hours. Garik Azizyan, a relative of the deceased soldier Karen Sayadyan, shared this in an interview with "Factinfo."

"On the morning of September 12-13 at 5 AM, contact with the position was lost. No one tells us anything about what happened there. When it was reported that we had two casualties in Jermuk, we immediately went there. A large number of people had gathered at the Jermuk intersection, primarily relatives of the servicemen. That day we couldn't clarify anything. The next day, my son went to the Ministry of Defense and learned there that Karen had been killed. To my understanding, the Ministry of Defense was already aware of everything, knew that no one had survived at those positions, and that is why at first they said they were dead, then that they are considered missing," Garik recounted.

Relatives received the news of Karen's death on September 29. The body of the 20-year-old conscript was among the 95 deceased servicemen returned to the Armenian side through the mediation of the Red Cross on September 20.

"On the 22nd, I had to convince the parents to submit DNA samples. We were told that the response would come in 3-4 days. When that period passed without any news, we were relieved. Then on the 29th, they called my father to say that he was identified... Karen's body was also among the 95 remains..." Garik shared.

Karen's mother last spoke to him on the afternoon of the 12th. As always, Karen did not mention anything regarding his service or the tense situation at the time.

"He was a very secretive boy. Even during his service in Vanadzor, he was awarded a certificate for his conscientious service, and only three people from his unit received the honor, but he never told anyone about it. He generally didn’t talk about his service; we didn’t even know what platoon he was in, which position he was stationed at. We found out later," the relative recalled.

Karen was from Gay village in the Armavir region. He was the eldest in his family and the only son, having been drafted into the military in 2021. After a few months of service in Vanadzor, he was transferred to Jermuk. On August 10, Karen went home for three days. His birthday was on the 14th, but because he was due to return to the positions the next day, he went back.

"We asked him, ‘What will happen if you stay, we’ll celebrate your birthday and you can go back later?’ But he said no, he had to return to the positions. He said they would celebrate there with the guys. He said this and left..."

On August 15, together with his friends, Karen Sayadyan last ascended to the positions, and he, along with his comrades, fell heroically fighting until the last bullet.