Former Defense Minister Vagharshak Harutyunyan, who provides consultation to the investigative committee studying the circumstances of the April 2016 war, has asserted that during the four-day war the Armenian side misassessed the situation that had developed, as a result of which oversights were allowed. According to Harutyunyan, it must be examined under what circumstances the Armenian side suffered human losses, whether correct decisions were made or not.
“The shortcomings were in the tactical echelon, the operational echelon, and the strategic, and these shortcomings occurred because the situation was not correctly assessed,” Vagharshak Harutyunyan stated.
In response to “Azatutyun’s” question of whether, for example, there were oversights in intelligence, Harutyunyan answered: “I will not go into detail; until the committee completes its work, everything regarding intelligence will be examined and it will be revealed whether there was information, whether it was reported, to whom it was reported, and what decision that echelon made — correct, timely, or not. The main issue today is to reveal what information existed, to whom it was reported, and what decision that echelon made.”
Vagharshak Harutyunyan considers unacceptable the claims that the purpose of the committee studying the circumstances of the April war is to punish certain people. According to him, the parliamentary investigative committee must bring to light all the shortcomings of the 2016 four-day war so that the repetition of mistakes is not allowed in the future. Of course, if as a result of the investigative committee’s work gross violations come to light that led to numerous casualties, there will also be people who will be held accountable.
