NA Investigative Commission to release report on 44-day war this spring – Commission Head
YEREVAN, January 29. /ARKA/. An ad hoc commission of the National Assembly of Armenia set up to investigate the circumstances of the 44-day war in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020 autumn will made public a corresponding report this spring, said Andranik Kocharyan, the head of this commission, who is also head of the parliamentary committee on defense and security from the pro-government Civil Contract party.
"The work is complete, the report is ready, and during one of the plenary sessions of the parliament, once all the permissions regarding confidentiality are completed, the parliament speaker will decide on the format in which the report will be presented," Kocharyan said in a PTA interview.
According to him, clear answers have been obtained regarding what happened because the commission had enough authority to gather all the information from various law enforcement agencies. Opinions from various officials, including the Prime Minister, were also heard.
"Based on the analysis of this information, a corresponding report was prepared, which will help answer many questions. In parallel, the investigative bodies have examined thousands of criminal cases. During this process, specific individuals, including high-ranking military personnel such as the former Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces Tiran Khachatryan, were also identified. These issues should be presented to the people in detail, and it will be necessary to understand what our shortcomings were – whether they were related to management, armament, or improper training of army structures," Kocharyan added.
About the 44-day war in Artsakh in 2020
From September 27 to November 9, 2020, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, with the participation of Turkey and foreign mercenaries and terrorists recruited by it, carried out an aggression against Artsakh both at the front and in the rear, using missile and artillery weapons, heavy armored vehicles, combat aircraft, and prohibited types of weapons (cluster bombs, phosphorus weapons). Bayraktar drones were also actively used, causing significant damage. Strikes were carried out, including on civilian and military targets within the territory of Armenia.
On November 9, 2020, the leaders of the Russian Federation, Azerbaijan, and Armenia signed a statement on the cessation of all military actions in Artsakh, according to which, in particular, the cities of Shushi, Aghdam, Karvachar, and Lachin regions were transferred to Azerbaijan, with the exception of a 5-kilometer corridor connecting Karabakh with Armenia. A Russian peacekeeping contingent was deployed along the contact line in Karabakh and along the Lachin corridor. On January 11, 2021, the Presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan, Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement aimed at developing the region and unblocking communications.
