ARMENIAN SOLDIER REVEALS REASONS FOR SURRENDERING TO AZERBAIJANI SIDE
Cihan News Agency (CNA), Turkey
March 23, 2015 Monday
BAKU (CÄ°HAN)- The identity of the Armenian serviceman, who voluntarily
surrendered to the Azerbaijani side on Mar.22, has been established,
Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on March 23.
He is Andranik Grigoryan, born in 1991, according to the ministry.
During the interrogation, Grigoryan said he surrendered to the
Azerbaijani side because he feared a senseless death. The Armenian
soldier also said that several servicemen were also planning to
surrender to the Azerbaijani side, but he did it before them.
“I don’t know anything about the fate of the others,” he said.
Grigoryan also talked about the terrible situation prevailing in the
units of the Armenian armed forces, the lack of weapons and food,
and conflicts among the servicemen.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in
1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a
result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied
20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and
seven surrounding districts.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs
of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently
holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.