Today, November 25, is the birthday of Monte Charles Melkonian (Avo), Hero of Artsakh and National Hero of Armenia. Monte would have turned 63.
Under his leadership, Martuni became the most protected and most battle-ready region of Artsakh. In March-April 1993, under his leadership, Karvachar was also liberated.
Today, however, on Monte’s birthday, the gates of Karvachar have sadly been closed for the Armenian side, in accordance with the trilateral Armenia-Russia-Azerbaijan agreement signed on November 9.
Monte Melkonian (Life and Work)
Education
Monte was born on November 25, in the town of Visalia, not far from Fresno, California, in the United States. In the summer of 1972, fifteen-year-old Monte Melkonian graduated from middle school. In 1973, before the start of the new school year at high school, the school principal, David Grimes, suggested that the gifted student travel to Japan to study.
Possessing extraordinary abilities, from the age of 12 (it was at that age that he learned of his Armenian identity), the 15-year-old boy, together with his parents, travelled to 41 cities in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. He went to Western Armenia, to his ancestors’ home. He studied the history of the 1915 Genocide.
In 1975, he graduated with honours from Mount Whitney High School. At the age of 20, he was admitted to the University of California, Berkeley. Possessing absolute abilities, he completed the four-year course with a double degree, receiving qualifications as a specialist in archaeology and Asian history. During his university years, he founded the Armenian Students’ Association and organised an exhibition dedicated to the Great Genocide.
Monte dedicated his graduation thesis to the study of the Kingdom of Van and its rock-cut tombs; he defended the thesis in 1978. He was awarded a scholarship to pursue a doctorate at Oxford University. However, instead of England, Monte went to Western Armenia, to measure and study the rock-cut tombs and dwellings of Vaspurakan.
Lebanese Civil War
In the autumn of 1978, he left for Iran, then Lebanon, to take part in the self-defence battles of the Armenian community of Beirut. By the age of 22, he already had full command of English, French, Spanish, Italian, Turkish, Persian, Japanese and Kurdish.
Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia
In 1980, he joined the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA). In November 1981, he was arrested in Paris on charges of preparing the assassination of a Turkish diplomat in Rome; after denying this, he was nevertheless imprisoned on charges of carrying a false passport. He was released a few weeks later. Within two years, he became an important figure in ASALA. He published articles in the Paris newspaper “Hay Baykar” and the London newspaper “Kaytser”, in the San Francisco magazine “Sardarapat”, as well as in a number of books in English on the just demands and rights of the Armenian national cause, which were published in London.
In 1991, after his release from prison, Monte went to Yerevan and worked for seven months at the Academy of Sciences, with the aim of writing and publishing the book “Armenia and Its Neighbours”.
In August, he married Seda, a Lebanese-Armenian student, whom he had met while still in Lebanon. After the start of the Artsakh liberation war, abandoning his scientific work, he left for Karabakh to take part in military operations.
In September 1991, he left for Artsakh, where he acquired the pseudonym “Avo”. In 1992, at the suggestion of Vazgen Sargsyan, he assumed the duties of head of the emergency staff of the Martuni region. Here, in a short time, through his sincerity and purity, he won the love and respect of the population. Under his leadership, Martuni became the most protected and most battle-ready region. In March-April 1993, under his leadership, Karvachar was also liberated. On June 12, 1993, for reconnaissance purposes, Monte and his comrades-in-arms went to the outskirts of the village of Marzili in the Aghdam region, where he was killed by fire from an Azerbaijani armoured vehicle.
Documentary Materials about Monte
Many songs have been written and performed in memory of Monte, and many documentary films have been made, such as: the four-part “Soldier of the Idea” by Goyamart Studio, “This Is Not Our Last Struggle”, “00 Is in Contact”, the recording of Monte Melkonian’s last radio communication, the video about Monte Melkonian in the “Sharp Angle” programme’s “Hero of Our Time” segment by Kevork Emin-Teryan, and other films.
One of the military academies of the RA Armed Forces is named after him, as are streets in Armenia and Artsakh.
Source: Armenian Wikipedia
