Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan (Komandos) was a patriotic man who was devoted to the army. This is what Minister of Defense of Armenia Vagharshak Harutyunyan told reporters during the Requiem Service held for legendary military commander Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan today.

The minister said he had known the legendary commander since the war in the 1990s. “When the army of Nagorno-Karabakh was being formed, the military-political situation was very intricate. The Defense Committee decided to send Ter-Tadevosyan to Nagorno-Karabakh, and he left at the most difficult moment. He started participating in the military operations and formed the army at the same time. After that, when I was appointed Minister of Defense in 1999, he served as Special Assignments General, and we worked together. I had very close ties with him. I know him very well, appreciate his contributions and, most importantly, he made a great contribution to the functioning of the army of Karabakh and the military operations in the initial stage.”

Asked if he had talked to the Komandos after the recent war, Harutyunyan said the following: “He objectively assessed the situation. I’m certain that he only wanted to see the Armenian army as an efficient army and to see the country get out of the situation victoriously.”

Asked what Armenia has to do to have the homeland that the Komandos dreamed about, taking into consideration that he was one of those who liberated Shushi and Shushi is currently under the adversary’s control, Harutyunyan said the following: “When we were starting the Karabakh movement, Karabakh was in a blockade, and Azerbaijan always had more military equipment than Armenia did. Now Armenia is in a better situation than it was in 1998. We need to stand united as one, have the will and aspire for victory.”

Legendary military commander Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan died on March 31 at the age of 81. His funeral will be held on April 3 at 11 a.m.