Syrian Ohanyan on the Causes of the 44-Day War and Pashinyan's Statements

If Nikol Pashinyan had been able to accurately assess the geopolitical situation in a timely manner and had shifted the state onto a military track as a result of that assessment, there would have been no defeat in the 44-day war. This was stated by Seyran Ohanyan, the former Minister of Defense of Armenia and head of the 'Armenia' Faction in the National Assembly, in a conversation with Sputnik Armenia, referring to Pashinyan's statements today.

As reported, the Prime Minister of Armenia, in response to the accusations made by the third President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, on November 7, that a different strategy could have avoided defeat during the 44-day war, stated that the air defense systems left by the 'previous ones' were scrap metal, which is why they were rendered ineffective on the very first day of the war.

According to Seyran Ohanyan, it is precisely under Nikol Pashinyan that Armenia's armament has turned into scrap metal due to improper and ineffective use. He is confident that Pashinyan is trying to shift the main blame for the defeat onto the 'previous ones' and the weaponry.

“It is his problem, it is at his lead that the means were struck in the first phase of the war. Of course, not everything was struck, but some were,” said Seyran Ohanyan.

The former Minister of Defense assures that throughout all phases of the armed forces' development, Armenia has had a state program for arms and military technology, and within the framework of that program, purchases have been made and military-technical cooperation has been established with Russia and several other countries in emergencies.

He informed that only within the framework of military-technical cooperation with Russia, Armenia acquired 1500 aircraft loaded with military equipment. He also added that this does not mean that someone was prevented from acquiring technology from various countries during those years, including Belarus and China.

Seyran Ohanyan also criticizes Pashinyan's statement today that he could show three former presidents of Armenia and 50 citizens the military's armament over recent years, equipment acquisitions, and engineering work done. “The Ministry of Defense has an information plan, and they know about it, through which they can inform the public about certain things without violating secrecy. But now they want to do something that violates those principles of secrecy just to justify themselves,” explained Ohanyan.

Regarding soldiers' salaries, Ohanyan confidently stated that Pashinyan is lying, as, according to him, a significant portion of contract servicemen on the front lines receive minimal pay.