Anna Vardapetyan Must Speak: 23 Years After the October 27 Events

The newspaper "Zhoghovurd" reports. On June 14, 2021, during the campaign for the extraordinary parliamentary elections, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated: "The preliminary investigation into the October 27 case has been opened, and the National Security Service is conducting that investigation. But you can also place a special duty and responsibility on our judicial bodies by voting, saying that these cases must be investigated thoroughly, and all possible measures must be taken to reveal this case." Ultimately, the voters cast that vote.

Today marks the 23rd tragic anniversary of the state terrorism of October 27, 1999, and despite the reopening of the criminal case after the 2018 Revolution, the case remains unsolved after 23 years.

Thus, it became known to the newspaper "Zhoghovurd" from well-informed sources in the security forces that after the reopening last year, the leader of the terrorist group, Nairi Hunanyan, was interrogated in the criminal case. Besides him, his brother Karen Hunanyan, the other participants of the crime Derenik Bejanian, Ashot Knyazyan, and the widow of the deceased Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Yuri Bakhshtyan, Anahit Bakhshtyan, were also interrogated.

What do we have after the reopening? In an interview with "Zhoghovurd", Anahit Bakhshtyan, the widow of Yuri Bakhshtyan and a former parliament member, who is also a member of the management council of the education supervisory body, stated that after the reopening of the criminal case, she was invited for interrogation at the NSS twice, but afterwards, nothing else was done, and the case remains unsolved. "Nothing has been done; I am not aware, I do not know what has been done. The Prosecutor General of the Republic of Armenia, Anna Vardapetyan, must speak about this and respond to my open letter. She must do so because that decision, regardless of what the Yans have written, is the signature and seal of the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Armenia, and that’s it."

According to Mrs. Bakhshtyan, before uncovering 'October 27', Nikol Pashinyan, being a victim of 'March 1', should have been interested in uncovering 'March 1'. "Let's start with March 1. He, being a person at the center of events, should have been interested in opening up March 1. It was not opened. What does this indicate? There is no justice in Armenia, and this means that the most important branch of power—justice—is not functioning, and it has not functioned after the revolution either, and from here stem all our misfortunes. 'March 1' should have been uncovered, because it was much more evident and easier than 'October 27', since there are many external players involved in 'October 27'.

Before 'October 27', they were talking about the Meghri corridor, and today we are in that reality of how Russia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey are demanding a corridor, against which Karen Demirchyan and Vazgen Sargsyan had categorically opposed, slamming the door during a Security Council meeting and leaving.

What does it mean to give money for two years but not receive weapons? Personally, I voted for him as a person who perceives democracy, but he has not always remained true to those principles.”

Thus, according to Mrs. Bakhshtyan, many questions remain unanswered, and most importantly, the real organizers and perpetrators of 'October 27' are still not revealed. "I will die, I will go, but I will not see that the case will be revealed on that day," said Anahit Bakhshtyan.

Full article in today's issue of 'Zhoghovurd' newspaper.