The one who demands responsibility, but avoids responsibility. Suren Pope

The head of the “Wings of Unity” political initiative Arman Tatoyan-the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia Suren Papikyan, we did not address the remote debate related to Azerbaijani infiltrations and positional improvements, the arguments of both sides, particularly the Ministry of Defense, during this time, especially when they made valid countermeasures to the denial of the Ministry of Defense based on satellite photos from the media. Since the Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan agreed with his party MP Lilit Minasyan that the media that question the official information should be held accountable, we decided to get answers to important questions from Suren Papikyan.

On March 17 168.amsent a written request to the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia with the following questions.

1. The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, through its spokesperson, denied the claims of Arman Tatoyan, head of the “Wings of Unity” political initiative, about the new Azerbaijani advance. It is mentioned in that denial. «The RA Armed Forces General Directorate is guided by topographic maps of the USSR of 1975, which have legal force and were approved by the head of the Transcaucasus territorial inspection of the State Geodetic Control. According to the map of the USSR, the position of Azerbaijan does not cross the state border and is located in the territory of the Republic of Armenia.

Question: First, with the map of 1975, which is mentioned in the denial of the Ministry of Defense, how much Armenian territory is there, which territories and positions are under Azerbaijani occupation, secondly, was the demarcation done in the Gegharkunik area, were the borders of Armenia and Azerbaijan determined, thirdly, the regulations of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border demarcation commissions state that “in the demarcation process, the commissions use all relevant cartographic documents.” Moreover, three years ago, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia announced that “The demarcation process must take place 1974-1978 based on the group of maps of the years”.

2. On the basis of which document was the Goris-Kapan road section handed over to Azerbaijan in December 2020, was any document signed at the level of the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, including the one between the Ministers of Defense of the Republic of Armenia and the Russian Federation regarding border control on the Goris-Kapan highway?

3. On the basis of which cartographic document was the Goris-Kapan road section handed over to Azerbaijan?

4. The withdrawal of troops from Syunik was based on what written order and document?

5. On the basis of which maps did Azerbaijan enter the sovereign territory of Armenia from May 2021? Or, was the demarcation of the state borders of Armenia based on Google Map or Google GPS positioning system not carried out, as the HRD of that time claimed and not only that, why was it considered “legal” 5 years ago?

6. in May 2021 “Armenpress” The map No. J-38-21 on a scale of 1:100,000 of the Armed Forces of the USSR appeared at the disposal, according to which the Black Lake (elevation: 2657.5 m) with its entire western, southern and eastern shores is located within the borders of the Armenian SSR.

A part of the northern shore of the lake is located in the territory of the Azerbaijan SSR, with an area of ​​about 10% of the total surface of the lake. According to the above-mentioned map, Sagi Lake, located in the immediate vicinity to the east of Black Lake, is completely located in the territory of the Armenian SSR. According to the RA State Agency, the Republic of Armenia confirmed in its fundamental documents that it is the successor of the Armenian SSR. During the past 30 years, legally binding border demarcation and demarcation works have not been carried out between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Therefore, the maps of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR remain the most accurate, complete and fundamental source in this regard. Therefore, the presence of Azerbaijani military forces in the western, southern and eastern shores of Sev Lake in the Syunik region of the Republic of Armenia is completely illegal, and the said territories belong to the Republic of Armenia indisputably and cannot be disputed in any way.

Why is the RA Armed Forces General Directorate not guided by the mentioned maps, which 5 years ago the state media, that is, the authorities, considered the most accurate, complete and fundamental source, but is guided by the 1975 map of the USSR, who decided that, why, what made it more fundamental now?

By the way, taking into account the bitter experience of answers to previous inquiries, we considered it necessary to ask that the answers be clear and well-argued. But as the people would say, who are you talking about? About 20 days later, the department headed by Suren Papikyan sent a response letter, in which, in fact, they did not answer any questions.

“In response to your letter dated 17.03.2026 to the written request, we inform you that the authorized body regularly provides the necessary information regarding the demarcation and demarcation of the submitted question 1. Official clarifications have been given many times regarding questions 2-6. We cannot provide any additional information.” stated in the response of the Ministry of Defense.

First of all, let’s record that the defense department headed by Suren Papikyan, which claims that «The RA Armed Forces General Directorate is guided by topographic maps of the USSR of 1975, which have legal force and were approved by the head of the Transcaucasus territorial inspection of the State Geodetic Control. According to the map of the USSR, the position of Azerbaijan does not cross the state border and is located in the territory of the Republic of Armenia. does not know how many territories and positions considered Armenian by that map are occupied by Azerbaijan? It is a sad and dangerous indicator.

And then, from our questions, it should have been clear to Suren Papikyan that we are very well versed in the regulations and information disseminated by the Azerbaijan-Armenia demarcation and demarcation commissions, and we know that the Ministry of Defense has representatives there. We also know who the addressee of which question is.

If the Ministry of Defense in its refutation clearly asserts the ownership of the positions under the control of Azerbaijan in the areas that have not yet been demarcated, when, for example, we have occupied territories in the Gegharkunik sector, should we not ask if there was a border demarcation in Gegharkunik?

Or, when the current authorities, the defense department proved years ago that the map of the USSR Armed Forces is the most accurate, complete and fundamental source by which the Black Lake belonged to Armenia, why don’t we try to find out why they are not guided by it, without clarifying, let’s say that they accepted the map that was favorable to Aliyev?

Moreover, when the Ministry of Defense criticizes Google Map, should we not remind that territories were handed over to Azerbaijan years ago based on Google Map or Google GPS positioning system, and try to understand whether the demarcation with these has a legal basis or not? All these questions required clear answers from Suren Papikyan or the Ministry of Defense.

Regarding the withdrawal of troops from Syunik in December 2020 and whether or not there is a written order related to it in the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Defense, several times request We have sent the Ministry of Defense on this subject, and response every time was different. 

Moreover, Nikol Pashinyan himself at different times տարբեր պնդումներ did it: one says that he personally gave the order to withdraw troops from Syunik, and another that never gave any order about the withdrawal of RA troops from any sovereign territory of RA.

It should be noted that the RA Investigative Committee informed us that no criminal proceedings have been initiated regarding the withdrawal of troops from Syunik, no preliminary investigation is being conducted. And if Suren Papikyan has to avoid answering important questions or the responsibility for it, then from now on it would be better not to talk about the responsibility of the media, the need to believe official information, and not only that.

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