The Armenian Defence Ministry is dissembling over its role in Karabakh, which can be seen from recent incidents in the army and on the contact line. One case in which the Defence Ministry in Yerevan has made contradictory statements is over the body of Azerbaijani Warrant Officer Mubariz Ibrahimov.
Ibrahimov was killed in a clash with Armenian forces in Azerbaijan’s Terter (Tartar) District during the night of 18-19 June. Ibrahimov killed several Armenian soldiers before falling in battle.
The Armenian side took Ibrahimov’s body from the battlefield and has yet to return it to his relatives. Right after the incident the Armenian Defence Ministry said that Ibrahimov's body had been left "on the Karabakh side" of the contact line. Azerbaijan asked Armenia for the return of Ibrahimov's remains via the International Committee of the Red Cross. However, the Armenians said that Ibrahimov’s body was neither in Armenia nor in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Moreover, several days ago photographs of Ibrahimov's body were posted on the networking site, odnoklassniki.ru.
A further piece of deception is the repeated claims by Yerevan that Armenian citizens do not serve in Nagorno-Karabakh, implying that “Armenia is not party to the conflict”.
A soldier by the name of Karo Ayvazyan shot five servicemen dead before committing suicide in a military unit in Karabakh's Martuni District on 28 July. The Armenian Defence Ministry published the names of the servicemen killed in this incident and they all came from Armenia: Senior Lieutenant Vardges Tatevosyan (Yerevan), soldiers Garegin Hovsepyan (Echmiadzin), Andranik Sargsyan (Yerevan), Robert Hovhannisyan (Vanadzor), Artem Manasyan (Charentsavan) and Karo Hayvazyan (Yerevan).
Gunman Ayvazyan had lived in the United States since early childhood. At the age of 13, he was in US jail and was in and out of jail until 2009. After this he was deported to Armenia. In the army was called Bin Laden because of his bad Armenian and criminal past. According to Ayvazyan’s grandfather, when Karo was recruited, he submitted all his documents to the military office and asked to be exempt from service because of poor health. He was also the only child of a single mother. However, the military commissariat of Yerevan's Arabkir district demanded $4,000 for the exemption. Ayvazyan's grandfather did not have the money, so his grandson went into the army. And he was sent from Yerevan to serve in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Baku should inform the international community that the Karabakh Armenians are not really struggling for independence, since it is clearly Armenia that is occupying a swathe of Azerbaijani land.
The combat readiness of the “Nagorno-Karabakh republic” army, as it calls itself, is ensured by Armenian citizens which proves the problem of recruiting servicemen in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh. This is the truth, however much Yerevan seeks to deny it.
Akper Hasanov
News.Az
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