ARTHUR AGHABEKYAN: WE DID NOT EDUCATE OUR COMMANDERS PROPERLY

Lragir.am
21-09-2007 14:16:18

Arthur Aghabekyan, the ex-deputy minister of defense, member of the
ARF Dashnaktsutyun’s parliamentary faction, stated September 21 at the
Hayatsk press club: "The Karabakh movement led to the collapse of the
Society Union, and all the peoples who longed for independence or had
lost their independence in the 20s gained independence." "In this
sense, our independence was the victory of justice," Arthur Aghabekyan
says.

According to him, the victory in the war in Karabakh was not thanks to
the army or the command, but the farmers and workers "who became
soldiers, freedom fighters, volunteers, realized the importance of the
time and declared that they do not have the right to decide to shoot
or not to shoot, to liberate the hill or not, they realized that they
should fulfill the orders without reservation to have victory," Arthur
Aghabekyan says.

He stated that we did not bow to the society, the people of Karabakh
who did not leave their homes in difficult moments when the Lachin
corridor was already open. Arthur Aghabekyan said we certainly bow to
people from other parts of Armenia, the citizens of the border towns
and villages of Armenia, who also survived the hardship of war. Arthur
Aghabekyan says the friends of Armenia also helped in the years of war
but as a participant of the military actions Arthur Aghabekyan noted
that the victory was gained by the collective image of the Armenian
people.

Does General Aghabekyan think it is normal that the fruits of the
collective victory, or the most part of it were appropriated by a
group of commanders, generals who are now feudalists? Lragir.am asked
this question to the general: is it normal or maybe Arthur Aghabekyan
disagrees with this opinion on the group of generals and former
commanders? He says everywhere after a war people remember the
commander and not the soldier. "The name of the killed soldier is not
remembered after the war, and the society, people, the generation
remembers him as the unknown soldier. They remember the commanders,
the generals. Maybe if we had been able to make it part of our culture
and offer it to the society, we would have shaped an image of a
commander, a general for ours people, and for the next generation it
would be an image which would be a model for the society. I think it
is a shortcoming," Arthur Aghabekyan says.

According to him, the shortcoming is that "the negative traits of our
commanders, generals were spoken about more than their moments of
heroism." "If our society were aware of those days of heroism of our
commanders, fully aware, I think it would not notice or would ignore
what you now call feudalism," Arthur Aghabekyan says although he says
he does not think that everything is allowed to guys. "Yes, I think it
is not acceptable. It has always been criticized in meetings among us,
we have discussed it much with our brothers-in-arms, but I think we
are to blame for the failure to educate our commanders properly after
the victory, after 1994 for them to appear to the society with a
different image," Arthur Aghabekyan says.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress