Monte Melkonian And The Controversial Claims About His Death

 

Monte Melkonian, was a legendary military commander who earned his rightful place in the pantheon of Armenian heroes who fought in the First Artsakh War (1989-1994). Monte the revolutionary joined Artsakh’s Self-Defense Forces as a volunteer in October 1990. By the time he died in June 1993 he had reached the rank of Lt. Colonel. According to the records of The Ministry of Defence of The Republic of Armenia Monte was awarded “...the NKR Battle Cross Order of 1st degree (posthumous, 23.11.1993). National Hero of Armenia (posthumous, 20.09.1996). He was awarded the highest Order of the Republic of Armenia. Hero of Artsakh (21.09.1999). Awarded with Golden Eagle Order.”

Monte “The Legend”, displayed exceptional leadership qualities that embodied bravery, resilience, brilliance in turning tactical successes into strategic victories, and a charisma that set him apart from the 4,000 soldiers he commanded in the Shahumian and Aghdam regions.

Monte “The Intellectual” “...was like a dry sponge when it came to his environment, always learning new languages and cultures” according to his brother Prof. Markar Melkonian.

“Monte graduated from UC – Berkeley in three years, majoring in ancient Asian history and archaeology. Monte was an inclusive person who went to great lengths to find out about his ethnic heritage. He was interested in unique cultures and always tried to draw connections and commonalities between Armenians and other ethnicities.”

Monte “The Man of Courage” genuinely believed that “Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste death but once.” [Shakespeare - “Julius Caesar”]

Based on that belief he displayed an unwavering courage and a defiance of death bordering on contempt for the fear it strikes in the heart of the average person.

Like all the legends of history, Monte too became the victim of controversies and claims ranging from absurd allegations to phantasmagorical stories, where speculations are totally unhinged from reality.

Monte’s brother, Prof. Markar Melkonian, tried to set the record straight about the realities that shaped his brother’s personality and achievements. Over a period of several years, he traveled extensively, interviewed countless eye witnesses and invested innumerable hours to clarify the circumstances surrounding the death of his beloved brother on June 12, 1993.

Prof. Melkonian published a book titled: “My Brother's Road: An American's Fateful Journey to Armenia.” The philosophy professor at California State University, Northridge, made a herculean effort to avoid producing a book that can be classified as a “Hagiography” of Monte, where chapter after chapter, an overly admiring and uncritical depiction of his subject turn him into a flawless heroic giant figure.

Prof. Melkonian addressed the complex realities of war; atrocities targeting non-Armenian civilians, looting and other terrible acts that were delivered to Monte’s attention after the fact. Monte, as much as the circumstances and the brutality of the war allowed, held his fighters accountable for every crime committed against innocent civilians, while insisting that his failures to react in a timely manner should never be erased from the history of The First Artsakh War.

Prof. Melkonian underlined also in his book the fact that Monte, while waging a war against Azeri soldiers, had to fight also internal enemies- Armenian organized crime figures, Armenian war profiteers, and Armenian gangsters who raided Monte’s fuel depots and sold the loot on the black market.

Prof. Melkonian, struggled hard to debunk in his book “Conspiracy Theories” about Monte's death, and scrutinized the various rumors of political betrayal, especially the one revolving around the narrative that Armenian organized crime figures paved the way for the untimely death of Lt. Col. Melkonian. In multiple forums Markar insisted that “ [He] bent over backwards to reach a conclusion regarding [ Monte’s] cause of death. [He] reconstructed the scene, collated different testimonies, skepticisms, inspected physical evidence at the point it took place, spoke to survivors, doctors, an Azeri prisoner of war, and so on…”

Years of hard work and an objective analysis of events forced Prof. Melkonian to announce the following verdict:

Monte died in a chance, chaotic encounter on the battlefield. In a close-range firefight Azeri soldiers fired an artillery shell from an armored vehicle (AV) surrounded by Monte and his five soldiers (Komitas, Saribek, Saro, Hovik, and Gevork) in the abandoned village of Merzili (Marzili). By the time the dust had settled on the battlefield, Monte died from a head wound inflicted by a large shrapnel piece from the shell fired by the Azeri soldiers. Saribek Martirosyan, hugged martyrdom with his beloved commander Monte.

Lately, an Armenian author named Ara Khachig Manoogian (Biography) published a book tilted “Go Die, Come Back, So I Can Love You.” Mr. Manoogian claims that: “The book almost did not get published... the work came close to being ended more than once over the twenty-eight years, and that a number of attempts were made on his life while it was under way.”

Mr. Manoogian points out that “In the months before he was killed, Monte Melkonian was fighting on two fronts...One was against Azerbaijan, and by the spring of 1993 he was winning it. The other was against corruption inside Armenian structures. He burned hemp fields, dumped untaxed wine and stopped the removal of four hundred tons of cognac from a captured village. He made men repay stolen humanitarian aid through the prosecutor, docked the pay of officers who abandoned their posts and refused a bribe in front of witnesses.” Multiple attempts had already been made by organized crime figures who perceived Monte as a serious obstacle for their illicit activities.The book does not name a murderer, and Mr. Manoogian says plainly that the investigation did not find one.

Mr. Manoogian does not produce a smoking gun and the name of an assassin who pulled the trigger. Instead, he emphasizes the point that he “...found an arrangement that protects the unfit, punishes whoever reports them, and edits the record afterward so nobody has to answer for anything.”

Mr. Manoogian points out that the primary driving force behind his investigation that lasted almost three decades was Monte’s father, Charlie Melkonian. Ineluctably, we confront the following question: Why did Charlie Melkonian cast doubts on the findings of his own son Prof. Markar Melkonian, and insisted that there is a sophisticated cover-up by Armenian authorities to distort the circumstances that paved the way for the death of Lt. Col. Monte Melkonian?

The answer may well be hidden in the pages of the book “Go Die, Come Back, So I Can Love You.”

The two books and the different interpretations they provide about the circumstances surrounding the death of Lt. Col. Monte Melkonian, should never overshadow the fact that Monte was also a “Humanist”. His ultimate dream was to establish an Armenia “Without corruption and just.”

We betrayed Monte’s legacy. Corruption is rampant today in Armenia. For more details consult the following article: “Under Pashinyan’s Rule The Civil Contract Party Is Above The Law.”

And definitely, by any stretch of imagination, we cannot claim that we have a “Genuine Justice” in Armenia. We have a thin veneer of justice, without any substance behind it. Instead of delivering justice to the 1.5 million victims of The Armenian Genocide of 1915, we betrayed the promise known as “Never Again.” In September 2023, we allowed an “Ethnic Cleansing” to depopulate Artsakh from its indigenous Armenian population. All of it in the name of a “Real Armenia” built on PM Pashinyan’s favorite mantra of “Por Yev Pogh”-a stomach full of food, and a pocket full of money.