Jalal Harutyunyan Asked Me To Ensure Movses Hakobyan Was in Artsakh During the 44-Day War, Tonoyan

During the 44-day war in 2020, Jalal Harutyunyan, the commander of the Artsakh Defense Army, personally asked me to ensure that General-Major Movses Hakobyan, who was a military inspector at that time, remained in Artsakh. This statement was made by former Armenian Defense Minister David Tonoyan during today's session of the parliamentary inquiry committee investigating the circumstances of the 44-day war, in response to a question regarding whose order Hakobyan was in the command post of the Artsakh Defense Army.

Tonoyan also noted that as far as he remembers, during those days, the Military Inspection of Armenia was conducting checks in Artsakh. “I distinctly remember that it was a request from the commander of the Artsakh Defense Army directed personally towards me to have Movses Hakobyan present in Artsakh, particularly at the command post. In other words, he approached me to ensure that the former commander of the Defense Army, former Chief of Staff Movses Hakobyan, would be present and support the commander of the Defense Army. You can verify this with Jalal Harutyunyan,” Tonoyan emphasized.

When asked whether this was a written order, Tonoyan stated that there might have been issues regarding documentation during the military operations, but this could be verified. The former Defense Minister added that even though Hakobyan was directly under the Ministry of Defense of Armenia, he could not issue any commanding directives, and he believes that Hakobyan did not do that either. “In terms of providing consultation, I do not exclude the possibility that he was consulted. Besides, if I am not mistaken, he fell ill with COVID-19 and continued his work at the Ministry of Defense after recovering. This was during the initial phase of Jalal Harutyunyan's tenure,” Tonoyan noted.

Andranik Kocharyan, the chairman of the parliamentary inquiry committee, announced that preliminary agreement has been reached for Jalal Harutyunyan to also appear before the committee, and such questions will be directed to him as well. David Tonoyan suggested inviting the former commander of the Defense Army Mikayel Arzumanyan as well, urging the court to summon him to the committee since there are speculations regarding Shush, and he definitely needs to speak. Kocharyan stated that if there are no legal obstacles, Arzumanyan will also be invited to the committee.

It is noteworthy that on June 27, 2023, Andranik Kocharyan announced that instead of making loud statements, Movses Hakobyan should come and appear before the parliamentary inquiry committee. Movses Hakobyan responded to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's remarks, asserting that during the war, he was in a bunker instead of his workplace. Hakobyan's response to Pashinyan was quite firm and he countered the Prime Minister's claims.

It should be mentioned that various officials have already appeared to answer questions at the committee, including Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Edward Asryan, former Chief of Staff Onik Gasparyan, and former Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan. On June 20 and 27, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan also answered questions before the committee.