We Will Fight for Karabakh as We did During Liberation War, Says Armenian Defense Minister

Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan (Source: Photolure)

YEREVAN (NEWS.am)—According to Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian, despite the recent killing of two Armenian soldiers on the border between Artsakh and Azerbijan, tension on the line of contact has decreased and the situation is under control.

Ohanian spoke with NEWS.am today at the funeral of one Armenian contract soldier, Mikayel Torosyan, who was killed last week on the border.

“Although this incident happened during the last two days, as a result of which we had two victims, we can say that the situation is under control. Armenian Armed Forces are implementing their tasks at [a] high level on both [the] Armenian and Artsakh borders. Soldiers must be a little more attentive in the issues related to security,” Ohanian said.

Referring to media reports that emerged after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Armenia earlier this month claiming that the return of border territories to Azerbaijan was discussed in Yerevan, Ohanian said that the Armenian side’s vision for a settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is unalterable.

“I want all of us to understand the reality which exists today and to also know that the standpoints of the Armenian military and political leadership on the Karabakh issue settlement are as follows: [an] exclusively peaceful settlement of the issue, [a] mutual agreement through dialogue, [the] creation of a climate of trust on the line of contact devoid of all kinds of shootings and diversions, as well as [the] creation of international investigation conditions on the basis of military expertise. What is circulated among the public and media is personal analysis, which has nothing to do with reality.  We must all understand that if something happens to Artaskh, we will fight for each piece of its land the way we did in the years of [the] Artaskh Liberation War. ”

Privates Vahe Vanoyan (born in 1995) and Mikayel Torosyan (born in 1996) sustained fatal gunshot wounds from shots fired from Azerbaijan on Thursday, November 12, 2015, at around 9:00pm local time. They were fatally wounded at a military base situation along the border for the protection of a Karabakh Defense Army unit.

An investigation is underway to find out the details of this incident.

Both Torosyan and Vanoyan were posthumously awarded the Medal for Service in Battle in recognition of their bravery shown during the defense of Artsakh’s state borders.