Azerbaijan's Military Power Exceeds Armenia and Artsakh's by Six Times, Davit Tonoyan Says

Political consent was given for my arrest during a consultation held with the Prime Minister of Armenia. This was stated by former Armenian Minister of Defense Davit Tonoyan in response to questions from 168.am through his legal team.

“Political agreement for my arrest was reached during a consultation with the Prime Minister of Armenia, and all participants are known to me and the public. Moreover, two of them no longer hold office, and rest assured that sooner or later, all those involved in the decision-making will be held accountable. Besides myself, about 10 generals are accused in various criminal cases, five of whom are currently detained. Hundreds of senior and junior military officers are also accused, and dozens are detained. Soldiers are now being placed in prison cells according to their military branches. What is this, if not a 'velvet' political persecution packaged as legal proceedings?” Tonoyan said.

The former minister, addressing the observation regarding his mention in one of his interviews that the period following the end of the war in 2020 showed our inability to counter the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem in defending Armenia’s interests, noted that one of the deep-seated reasons for this was that “since 1994, the Armed Forces of Armenia have been in a state of apparent stagnation due to adopting a defensive posture, which the military-political leadership tried to neutralize through military cooperation with allied and partner countries (educational programs, exercises, drills) and ultimately through military presence in Armenia.” He responded that Azerbaijan's military power, at the most conservative estimates, exceeds that of Armenia and Artsakh by six times, meaning three times more than what we could withstand or were capable of countering.

“It is also worth noting the aggregation of Turkey’s capabilities to Azerbaijan's military power. However, despite the aforementioned conditions, until November 9, 2020, the Armenian armed forces fought, organized a retreat, but did not flee; they did everything to receive support from their ally and, in fact, received significant assistance to halt the bloodshed, ensuring the presence of the allied armed forces in Artsakh, which was primarily demanded by the authorities of Artsakh and quasi-state forces. This is an undeniable fact,” he said.

At the same time, he pointed out that “the positions occupied by Armenian forces were not sufficient to organize stable defense in light of the presence of modern high-precision weapons acquired by the adversary and the created military-political conditions. This is evidenced by the fact that in 2016, 2020, and between 2021-2023, critical infrastructure in Artsakh, weaponry, and military technology were targeted with high precision within minutes, and in several places, the front line was breached.”