“Even if for a second the enemy realizes that they can resolve the conflict through the means of war I assure you it will happen no doubt. The only restraining factor for Azerbaijan is not the OSCE Minsk Group (indeed I don’t wish to belittle the role of the Minsk Group) but the defense army and the soldier that is standing now on the border,” stated M. Hakobyan during the meeting with journalists. In his words the active situation on the frontline is no better than during the years of the war. “Of course, back then the activeness level was so tense that we had to prevent the actions by using hardware and through the use of our heavy artillery. For example today the cease fire mode was violated 51 times and this continues periodically. Compared to the last year the military forces of Azerbaijan violated the cease fire as often as during the three months. In 2011 they shot three times more than in 2010 and this is continuous. This has several goals. First, they are trying to harm the armed forces of Artsakh and let me mention that the majority of these shots are made by very good sniper rifles. As you know because of this weapon we had 11 casualties last year. All these shots were made to the heads of these young soldiers. Secondly, they are trying to raise the spirit of their military forces through military trainings. Indeed, the army of NKR gives them a proper counterattack and response. You have probably been reading from Azerbaijani websites what counterattacks we have undertaken. We always respond because we don’t want the Azeris have any progress on the frontline,” said Movsisyan. The defense minister also answered the question of the 186-Zham reporter.
– In your speech you have mentioned that last year on the frontline we had 11 death cases but in the meantime during the same period we had lots of cases of suicide in the army. In the military regiment Yeghnikner, for example and in Martakert there were many such cases. How would you comment on these cases?
– The cases of suicide are the painful spots of our army. As of the growth of such cases then we have data and you can draw comparisons between the last year and the previous years. As a military official, I’d like to assure you that for me lying is impossible and these numbers and data are accurate. At any rate, I assure you that no cases has ever been hidden or expunged in the army. It’s impermissible and unacceptable for us. This is our demand not as much of the society’s. We want these negative phenomena to be gone because we are the ones accountable and we are going to have a hard time responding to these cases. The army is the structure where all the cases are investigated within an hour or two or within a week because it’s organized and understandable to the society. And we are able to operatively accumulate information. The investigative bodies work quite well in the army. The stretching of the investigation mostly depends on the results of forensic. Please, don’t assume that we are trying to hide those cases. I mentioned that there is no growth of cases of suicide. The suicide is a phenomenon that exists in various segments of the society and the army is not an exception. The army is a part of society. The army is the place where there regular oversight. We should exclude the repetition of such cases. Unfortunately such things are happening now and the main grounds of such cases are connected to suicide. In the army there is this thing about telling lies. If one of the soldiers tells a lie to his comrades then he turns into some second degree person in their eyes. We are having a hard time explain to them that it’s the God to judge the lies and the people in general and there is no need to classify people based on their mistakes. This is a flaw that exists in the army.
– And so how can we fight against these flaws?
– You must explain to the soldiers, that this is wrong. The second reason is that appearing in certain conditions the soldier thinks that joining the army is inadmissible for him. He thinks the committing suicide is the best solution. The soldier prefers suicide to spending two years in the army. These are weak people. But there are cases of violence too, when soldiers are killed. There are cases, as the one in Martakert, when a soldier shot his fellow soldier for swearing. The surprising thing is that this happens in a “healthy atmospheres.” There are no proofs that soldier is constantly under pressure. We are able to deter and prevent such cases. We will do the impossible to eliminate suicide. As to what happened in “Yeghnikner” military base, the doctors are to be blamed as well. The soldier hit his fellow soldier only once, but this appeared to be mortal because of the wrong diagnose of the doctors. Every case that happens in a military base, it appears in a difficult situation and loses its efficiency. First, losing a friend is not easy, second soldiers cease to serve for a while, because of the investigation.
– This year, particularly in January- February, cases of pneumonia increased in the army. What measures are taken to prevent the illness?
– I control the treatment of every soldier suffering from pneumonia, i.e. I am aware about all the cases. This year cases of pneumonia were considerably more. I will try to explain. There are 26 types of pneumonia; we do vaccination for 14 types. This type of pneumonia that was discovered is unknown. Research is carried out in respective laboratories to find out the reasons and the prescribe the right vaccination for it. Last year there were nearly no cases of pneumonia or may be 10 cases, but not more. During 2001-2002 we discharged 300 soldiers suffering from pneumonia, last year- none. We do vaccination against pneumonia and carry out preventive measures. We were very worried for most of the soldiers didn’t know about their illness. In one of the hospitals of Martuni, it was discovered through testing that one of the soldiers suffered from pneumonia, and he was immediately transported to Stepanakert. It takes two hours to get from Martuni to Stepanakert and we had hard time to save the soldier. If a soldier has high temperature, he is isolated and taken to hospital. We keep the situation under control.
– Statement of war on part of Azerbaijan, talks about short-term war are becoming more intensive. Do you consider the resumption of war possible?
– Currently there is no probability of war. They are not ready for it. We will win in any case, no matter what war it is.