Yerevan April 4
Ani Mshetsyan. Azerbaijan failed to achieve the goal pursued during the April 2016 war. The ex-Minister of Defense of Armenia Vagharshak Harutyunyan stated this at a press conference on April 4.
According to him, there were several reasons that provoked Azerbaijan for the April adventure. First, according to Harutyunyan, at that time the parties were very close to agreeing on the Madrid principles, which was not in Azerbaijan’s favor, since they also included the right of the people of Artsakh to self- determination.
The second reason, according to the ex-minister, was the disagreement between Ankara and Moscow over the downed Russian aircraft. “Turkey began inciting Azerbaijan to military provocation,” he said. According to Artutyan, Azerbaijan’s goal during the April war was to strengthen its political positions. In addition, Baku wanted to prove to the mediators of the OSCE Minsk Group that it could solve the Karabakh issue by military means. “This was a local, not a global war, aimed at seizing border areas,” said Harutyunyan.
Talking about the military actions themselves, Harutyunyan noted that Azerbaijan launched the attack at night. In the actions were brought in order 10,000 Azerbaijani military, from the Armenian side is ten times less. According to Harutyunyan, the Azerbaijani special forces crossed the border and struck a blow, after which artillery and heavy equipment were connected, which was by that time tightened to the border.
Thus, Harutyunyan continued, Azerbaijan managed to achieve success on the first night, taking into account the surprise factor, and precisely on those positions where the Armenian side was not very vigilant. However, after that, according to him, the Azerbaijanis received a worthy rebuff and retreated, behind them there were only those participants who they had already captured. “After the Armenian army launched a counter-offensive, the Azerbaijanis asked for peace,” the ex-defense minister said. In his opinion, in the military terms, the Armenian side achieved success and did not allow Azerbaijan to achieve its goal. “Their losses were significant – about 500 people, as well as equipment, and Baku was not able to correctly apply aviation, for which it spent large sums,” he said. Touching upon the territorial losses of the Armenian side, the ex-minister assured that they did not have any strategic importance.
According to Harutyunyan, Baku was defeated on the political front, as the Minsk mediators, and the international community as a whole, shared the Armenian side’s approach to placing CCTV cameras in the border zone and creating mechanisms to investigate the incidents.
Explaining the motives of the constant military adventures of Baku, Harutyunyan expressed the opinion that by doing this he is trying to create an atmosphere of fear in Artsakh and Armenia and force him to make concessions. At the same time, the ex-minister excluded the possibility of a repeat of the events of April 2016.