Former Deputy Commander of the Armed Forces, Major General Davit Manukyan from Baku prison applied Nikol Pashinyan, demanding a public position regarding the accusations attributed to them.

In particular, it refers to the war unleashed in September 2020.

“Cr. of Azerbaijan Under articles 100.1, 100.2 of the Code, we were charged in September 2020 with the wording of “planning, preparing and unleashing or waging an aggressive war”, despite all the irrefutable evidence and facts we have brought. Moreover, it happened in open view of the international community. However, you were the prime minister and supreme commander of the Republic of Armenia at that time, and the planning of the war begins from that point. I urge you to present a public position regarding those accusations, if you don’t respond, it will mean that you agree to the false accusations, thereby making not only you, but also the entire Armenian people complicit,” the general said in the recording transmitted from Baku.

After the war we repeatedly we wrote that in 2020 On September 27, when it became known that Azerbaijan had started a war against Artsakh, there was martial law in RA to be announced.

“On the legal regime of martial law” RA in the law the circumstances serving as the legal basis for such a decision and the powers of the RA government, the government and not the prime minister, are defined. In other words, the martial law does not grant Nikol Pashinyan the powers of supreme commander.

Accordingly, another in the article We have asked the question: in what capacity did Pashinyan give the order to take back Shush with a counterattack, or in what capacity and right did he make a single decision during the war related to the 7th defense region of Artsakh, regardless of whether it was good or bad?

In any case, it is a fact that Nikol Pashinyan has de facto reserved himself the powers of the supreme commander during the war, and the war is conducted by the state.

And Davit Manukyan, in fact, not only reminded Pashinyan of the war period itself and his responsibility at that time, but also pre-war, and demanded a clear answer: does he agree with the statement that the 44-day war was unleashed by the Armenian side under his own leadership, because the deputy commander of the Armed Forces could hardly unleash a war, he did not have that level of “authority”.

Let us remind you that during the war, the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to Nikol Pashinyanhad accused in breach of agreement.

“The ceasefire regime was maintained and restored for 2 years at the request of the RA Prime Minister. He asked me that the internal situation is difficult, I am being pressured from all sides, give me time and I will solve the issue. He said, “I have come with new ideas, I have erased everything that happened in the past, give me a chance and time.” I replied: OK. And what happened? After a year, he announced: “Karabakh is Armenia, and that’s it.” Well, let him say now: “Karabakh is Armenia, and that’s it,” Aliyev announced at the beginning of October 2020, referring to the elevator negotiations.

Of course, Pashinyan, on his part, claimed that it was Aliyev who asked him not to endanger the internal situation of Azerbaijan, perhaps that is why he did not use the confidential information he had against Aliyev, although here it is a violation of a different agreement. And here, in fact, Aliyev puts the responsibility of the war on Pashinyan, even if on other occasions both Azerbaijan and Turkey openly have accepted that they started the war, September 27, 2020 was the right time.

In particular, after the 44-day war in 2021, Aliyev opened some parentheses in a conversation with “National Defense” magazine, stating:

“Every day I held a consultation with the leadership of the Ministry of Defense, National Security, Foreign Intelligence Service, State Border Guard Service, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During these meetings, we summarized the results of the previous day, highlighted the shortcomings, and also approved the plan for the next day. In other words, very active daily work was carried out, and our actions and operations were a surprise for the enemy, which are already known in many cases today.”

He also reported that During the 44-day period, changes and corrections were introduced in the military operations, including taking into account that “the opponent may have information about their intentions”, which we wrote about in various operations: the capture of Lachin, Shushi.

And in 2025, a similar one confession Turkish Defense Minister Yashar Güler also did, saying. “Azerbaijani army has started military operations with the aim of “liberating the native land – Karabakh” from occupation and putting an end to years of oppression and injustice.”

And now General Manukyan from Baku urges Pashinyan to have courage and declare that the only planner, preparer and unleasher of the aggressive war of September 27, 2020 is Azerbaijan, Aliyev, about which they tried to present irrefutable evidence and facts in the Baku court.

Will Nikol Pashinyan, who and his team have always accepted with bayonets the statements of some opposition figures or former RA presidents, that Pashinyan brought the 44-day war closer or provoked it with his statements and political steps, or may he have fears that Aliyev might make new leaks?

In other words, Aliyev’s rating is on one side of the scale, and the Republic of Armenia’s is on the other. Whom will Pashinyan recognize as a war criminal, if we forget his “reports” against the Republic of Armenia and the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia?

By the way, in the context of the Azerbaijani charge of “planning, preparing and unleashing an aggressive war” against General Davit Manukyan, we should remind that, for example, Anna Hakobyan, about a month before the 44-day war, in 2020. August 25-31, in one of the military units of Artsakh had initiated  get togetherwhere 15 women of different ages and professions living in Artsakh were involved, and the purpose of the course was to learn about military life and acquire military skills. According to Pashinyan’s and Aliyev’s assessment, can this be placed in the logic of preparing for war, preparing “armed groups”?

Regarding the evidence and facts mentioned by the general, let’s present some episodes from the “trial” in Baku, from different sessions.

Episode one

During one of the court hearings held in June 2025 In the court of Baku, the prosecution of the former deputy commander of the Armed Forces, Major General Davit Manukyan, asked questions about the 44-day war of 2020.

Responding to them, Davit Manukyan first noted that Armenia has not heard about the implementation of “provocations” on September 27, 2020, there was no such information.

And here at the court in Baku, the Azerbaijani prosecutor recalled the meeting of the former Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia Davit Tonoyan with the Armenian community in the USA on March 30, 2019 and his the speech show a video of it where he announces reformulate the “territories for peace” format to the “new war: new territories” format.

“We will get rid of the trench situation, the constant defensive situation, and we will increase the number of units that can move military operations to the enemy’s territory.” In a well-known statement, Tonoyan explained from a purely military point of view.

Later, during the “trial”, a “secret document” signed by Kamo Vardanyan, the former chief of staff of the Artsakh Armed Forces (from March 19, 2020 to September 11, 2021), former commander of the Armed Forces, was examined.

According to the Azerbaijani propaganda machine, we are talking about order N 0671 of September 25 according to which firing positions were supposed to be planned until September 28 and “around 70 settlements of the enemy were to be destroyed”.

Davit Manukyan, the former deputy commander of the Armed Forces responded that first learned about the said order during the preliminary investigation.

It should be noted that Nikol Pashinyan said exactly On September 25, 2020, information about the start of the war was received, which seemed very reliable.

Later, in the Investigative Committee, the Chairman of the National Defense and Security Committee Andranik Kocharyan announced that «According to Directive 0046, the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia were gradually brought to the first level of readiness, which was based on radio absorption on September 25. received the F-16 pilots’ conversation that they will be participating in something important tomorrow.” 

Episode two

During the Baku “trial” held in April 2025 During the questioning of Davit Manukyan, the Azerbaijani prosecutors did not ignore the topic of “missile attacks on Azerbaijan” during the 44-day war, in response to which, according to the Azerbaijani media, the general announced, or is not aware of the alleged rocket attacks on the territories of Azerbaijan far from the front line.

During another session at the court in Baku Manukyan noted that during the 44-day war, his official duties were clear: “deal with combat training, there is no mention of war planning.”

At the same time, during the “trial” on trumped-up charges, the former high-ranking military officer of the RA Armed Forces and Defense Forces emphasized that he did not participate in the SC sessions. General Manukyan even announced on one occasion in Baku that During the 44-day war, the Turkish “Bayraktar” targeted his car, his driver was injured, and he was 20 meters away from the car, so he was not injured.

According to our information, the incident happened on the general’s birthday, October 15, and it was only by a lucky coincidence that he survived.

Episode three

In March 2025, during one of the court sessions in Baku, in response to the question of the Azerbaijani state prosecutor, General Manukyan had noted that Zhirayr Sefilyan was the commander of Shushi’s special battalion, and then answered an additional question addressed to him: has no information that Jirayr Sefilyan was born in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon.

“He is from “Western Armenia”, but he became a citizen of Armenia,” stressed Davit Manukyan.

In other words, the general tried to deny Baku’s accusations that Armenia involved mercenaries during the 44-day war.

Azerbaijan directly addressed this accusation during another court hearing was opposed also Levon Mnatsakanyan, former commander of the Armed Forces.

“As far as I know, they were not mercenaries. All of them were volunteers, none of them specifically sent them to serve and paid money for it,” the general stated in the court of Baku.

These are just a few episodes where the former military-political leadership of Artsakh, the generals kept there, tried to throw the Azeri accusations on Armenia and Nikol Pashinyan, and today, being in Baku, they do not feel the support of the RA government and Nikol Pashinyan himself.

Of course, there were cases when they had to make some “declassifications” related to the relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia, and not only that. But one thing is clear: Davit Manukyan’s speech addressed to Nikol Pashinyan is a serious challenge, it is a serious examination and contains a serious message.

After all, no matter how Nikol Pashinyan’s name was mentioned in the context of the “Ganja events” during the trial in Baku, and the former president of Artsakh, Arayik Harutyunyan, was the main the arrow corrected In the direction of the RA military leadership, from Pashinyan in this matter responsibility does not neutralize.

Of course, Pashinyan may not accept his responsibility and also at some point and in exchange for something, leave the responsibility of the “Ganja incidents” to the RA military leadership, especially when earlier Aliyev demanded to investigate these incidents and bring the “culprits” to justice.

This is also the “just demand” of Ganja-born Hikmet Hajiyev, with whom Pashinyan’s government has close ties today.

By the way, during the “trial” in Baku, Ruben Vardanyan, Davit Manukyan, and Davit Babayan submitted a motion to interrogate Nikol Pashinyan through teleconference, but the Azerbaijani court rejected it.

And the demand of the former deputy commander of the Armed Forces had another very important message: Pashinyan should decide for himself whether they are prisoners, hostages or imprisoned persons, who may agree with Aliyev regarding the charges brought against them, or at least it is beneficial to him.

It is this that must be proven, and then any status requires a special approach and characterizes its “responsible”, in this case, Aliyev. General Manukyan, in fact, did not leave the international community without a message either, saying that everything happened in front of their eyes. The international community, which believes that Armenia should fulfill Baku’s demands, Nikol Pashinyan’s government should continue its existence out of their own interests.

And Davit Manukyan gave Nikol Pashinyan an opportunity to prove to what extent Armenia is a sovereign state and to what extent Nikol Pashinyan is able to protect the innocence, justice and authority of the state he leads, or should he agree that Armenia committed war crimes during the 44-day war, expecting Aliyev’s forgiveness in exchange for something at some point…

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