A Fact-Finding Commission Or Another Farce To Whitewash PM Pashinyan
Armenian Opposition Parties to Boycott Tomorrow’s Session of 2020 Artsakh War Investigative Commission
By Hrant Gadarigian 19 June 2023 https://hetq.am/en/article/157296
While I agree with the opposition that the “Fact-Finding Commission”, established to investigate the chronological progress of events that triggered the 44-Day War, is a theatrical parody that has nothing to do with truth, and will concentrate the bulk of its efforts on whitewashing The Prime Minister of Armenia and his tragic miscalculations that sacrificed 5.000 Armenian brave soldiers, the opposition should still participate and impose on The Commission's agenda the following critical questions:
1) Why did the Prime Minister of Armenia decide to go to war when he had several months to pursue an aggressive diplomatic campaign to avoid the war?
According to Col. Gen. Onik Gasparyan,
he officially assumed his responsibilities as Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia on June 8, 2020. On June 12, he exposed Prime Minister Pashinyan to the military-political landscape dominated by the treacherous Turkish presence and the close bonds forged between The Turkish Armed Forces and The Azerbaijani Army. His encounter with PM Pashinyan addressed also the state of readiness of The Armenian Defense Forces to confront the mushrooming threat and defend the fatherland including Artsakh. The same details were reiterated to the members of the Armenia’s Security Council a few days later.
To all concerned parties Col. Gen. Gasparyan clearly pointed out that “Our opponent is no longer only Azerbaijan, but also Turkey. Therefore, Armenia cannot effectively confront the joint military potential of these states and it is necessary to direct all the political and diplomatic potential to avoid or at least postpone the war.”
Why did the Government of Armenia, under Pashinyan’s leadership reject the advices of Col. Gen. Gasparyan to avoid the war by relying on the “Lavrov Plan” that was strongly recommended by the Russian Foreign Minister to The Armenian Government on multiple occasions since 2016.
Yes the “Lavrov Plan” involved sacrifices requiring the return of the seven Azerbaijani districts used as a “Buffer Zone” by Armenia. So what? The war our soldiers heroically waged against Turkey, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Israel, and Islamist Mercenaries from Syria for six weeks extracted a much harsher price tag, the most excruciating portion of it was the loss of 5,000 Armenian soldiers who valiantly sacrificed their lives to protect the dignity of the fatherland and Artsakh.
If a government is clearly told that it cannot win a war, why did it, for petty political scores designed to insure its own stay in power, ignore the advices of the military leadership and why did it steer the country to a painful capitulation?
2) With the start of Azerbaijan’s military campaign on Sept. 27, 2020 the Armenian Army had a plan to mobilize to “Full Capacity” The Armed Forces of Armenia and Artsakh. Pashinyan refused to issue the proper orders for a “Full Capacity Mobilization”.
According to Colonel General Movses Hakobyan of the Military Supervision Service, Pashinyan made minimal efforts in what was supposed to be an existential war for the survival of Artsakh and Armenia. “He revealed that by October 30, more than a month after the war began, that only 70% of Artsakh’s forces and 52% of the reservists in Armenia had been mobilized. According to him, Armenia’s military doctrine determines that near full mobilization should be achieved within 48 hours of a war beginning. He also said that on the third day of the war Pashinyan had ordered the supply of regular Armenian reservist to Artsakh be halted and replaced with only volunteer detachments.”
https://hetq.am/en/article/124505
3) Why did PM Pashinyan repeat for 44 days the lie that he is winning the war?
4) Why did he refuse to accept the help of foreign Armenian volunteers? In Greece alone approximately 800 volunteers contacted the Armenian Embassy in Athens expressing their readiness to help The Armed Forces of Armenia. They were all turned down despite having acquired very valuable experience with The Greek Special Forces or other specialized units including “Behind Enemy Line Operations.”
https://greekcitytimes.com/2020/10/03/former-non-commissioned-officer-im-going-to-artsakh-with-500-800-greeks-to-crush-the-turks/
5) When India expressed a readiness to supply military hardware to neutralize Pakistan’s extensive help provided to the Azeri Army, Pashinyan lied to the Indian government that he is winning the war and he does not need any help.
6) Why did Pashinyan knowingly buy obsolete weapons that cannot protect Artsakh’s airspace, thus rendering the ground forces extremely vulnerable to Turkish and Azerbaijani UAV strikes?
https://artsakhtheinadequateresponse.blogspot.com/2021/01/pm-pashinyan-is-fully-responsible-for.html
7) Why did Pashinyan stop the counter offensive attack launched by the Armenian Army on Nov.08, 2020 to liberate Shushi from the Azerbaijani forces, when the Army was very close to achieving a victory?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abZFE3qnCyM
The Armenian counter offensive was launched on Nov.08/20. It was going extremely well despite the heavy odds stacked against the Armenian Army. A major political interference from The Office of The Prime Minister of Armenia stopped the Armenian offensive, and the trilateral capitulation treaty was signed on Nov.09/20. More than 5.000 soldiers sacrificed their lives in The Second Artsakh War. More than 10.000 brave souls lost limbs and were so badly maimed that they cannot be reintegrated into the workforce of Armenia.
As long as the previous questions are not answered by Pashinyan, any attempt to discover the truth, will remain a travesty of the justice we owe to all the brave souls who hugged martyrdom on the battlefield of Artsakh to keep the shadow of a Petro Dictator Aliyev away from Stepanakert, and defend the survival of a nation.
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