YEREVAN. – How could our soldiers have fought against seven countries? The parent of one of the missing servicemen asked this Monday outside the Ministry of Defense of Armenia, addressing Andranik Kocharyan, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Defense and Security of the National Assembly and a member of the majority My Step faction in parliament.
To note, these relatives of the missing servicemen have gathered outside the Ministry, and they demand from the authorities answers to their questions on the whereabouts of these soldiers.
And Andranik Kocharyan responded: "But they were able to fight[against them], weren’t they? Whoever is left, as well as the fallen, is the master of this state,. We owe to that generation. (…). We are in a difficult situation, these fallen and the living shall raise this state; these are not [just] words. The missing, as much as there is, must be found.”
He noted that the leadership of the MOD of Armenia has changed, a new minister has come, and has already has discussed these issues with the Russian leadership. "We also have urgent options to get urgent answers to these questions, but, also, indescribable obstacles that they [the Azerbaijanis] have become brazen. No problem; states win, lose. In order to build our next victory, we must overcome this crisis," Kocharyan added.
As for the reports that several dozen Armenian soldiers had crossed the border into Iran, the MP said: " There is very reliable information about the children who are alive."
He added that the issue of retrieval of the bodies of the dead had been resolved in the north, but in the south, the Azerbaijanis, "are constantly creating problems so that the Red Cross, Russia will not be able to resolve the issue quickly. But they [the Azerbaijanis] can't for very long; yesterday was more difficult than today."
On November 9, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a joint statement on a complete cessation of hostilities— which Azerbaijan had launched on September 27—in and around Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). Accordingly, Russian peacekeepers are deployed in the region to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire and the cessation of hostilities. But this statement also stipulates the handover of part of Artsakh lands to Azerbaijan.
