Your trusted source

Today we mourn and, at the same time, are proud of our brave servicemen who fell defending the homeland during the recent 44-day war and April four-day war in Artsakh, Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces Artak Davtyan told reporters at the Yerablur Military Pantheon in Yerevan on Friday. 

He visited the military cemetery along with several other top military officials to pay tribute to the fallen soldiers on the fifth anniversary of the 2016 April War.

Davtyan stated if Armenia had not learned lessons from the April War, the recent 44-day heroic battle in Artsakh would have had a different outcome in different timeframes.

"We could have lost the whole of Artsakh within 15-20 days,” the army chief underlined.

In Davityan’s words, the April four-day hostilities cannot be called a war according to the classical assessment.

Separately, he said that the situation in the General Staff has been settled, adding it functions normally.

"The court ruling and interpretations are the job of lawyers and everyone makes comments from their point of view," he added.

Asked how he works with the military personnel who demanded Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's resignation in a statement, he responded. "I work very well, there are no problems. The team works and carries out the tasks set before the General Staff.”

Davtyan described the situation in the region as quite tense. "The situation remains relatively stable on the borders and there are almost no incidents as such, however the general tensions remain, affecting both the border service and our daily life in general."

To the question whether Iskander missiles were used during the 44-day war, Davtyan replied: “I cannot say anything because it is not subject to public disclosure."