Azernews.Az

Thursday March 28 2024

Mothers of dead soldiers in Armenia protest injustice

29 January 2016 17:29 (UTC+04:00)
Mothers of dead soldiers in Armenia protest injustice

By Laman Sadigova

Six parents of dead soldiers, who passed away or were killed in non-combat situation, held a protest in front of the presidential palace in Yerevan on January 27, demanding justice for their dead sons.

Five years have left since Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan promised them that the new military prosecutor Gevorg Kostanyan will conduct a fair investigation to reveal the truth.

But, both president and the military prosecutor luckily forgot their promises and left grieving parents without any answers.

Increasing number of soldier deaths in non-combat situations have become usual in the poor post-Soviet country with a population of 2 million people.

Absolute chaos reigning in the Armenian Armed Forces is supported by numerous cases of desertion and evasion.

For example, Andranik Grigoryan, an Armenian soldier who voluntarily surrendered to Azerbaijan told that "We are tired of unbearable conditions, lack of discipline in the military unit, lack of ammunition, ill treatment with soldiers and warrant officers, and the disorders."

He also said that the soldiers are fed with poor-quality food, with outdated expiration date. Unsanitary conditions prevail in military units. Contagious diseases, especially the infectious ones are wide-spread in military units

The mother of serviceman Arthur Gazaryan, who died in 2010, in particular, said that non of cases over the past 5 years has had a positive development.

“The president should fulfill his promise, otherwise let him just come here and say “I cannot keep my promise, we cannot give any answers, because our generals and commanders rend your children, not the Turks (in colloquial Armenian, Turks also mean Azerbaijanis),” Irina Gazaryan desperately said.

Law enforcement bodies urged protesters to leave the territory adjacent to the presidential office, saying they violate the law and block the entrance, hindering the work of the administration.

“Which law are you speaking about? Doesn't this law work only for you and hooligans? Why this law does not punish the killers of our children? We will wait here until Sargsyan comes to answer our questions,” Gazaryan added.

Poor relations among soldiers and officers in the Armenian army have already turned into a driving factor behind servicemen's deaths in non-combat conditions. Officers' willful treatment of soldiers, the humiliations they have to bare often result in armed incidents that ultimately claim the lives of servicemen.

During the protest, the police have built a human chain and pushed parents back from the gate of the presidential residence in an effort to disperse the rally.

This has unavoidably triggered public concern and angered the desperate families.

Due to the Armenian government’s aggressive policy, the youth is left to die in the occupied territories with no hope for escape.

The parents of killed soldiers have repeatedly protested in Yerevan, demanding for the rights of their children to be respected and honored.

The state has systematically proven vicious in its approach as protesters faced a brutal police crackdown every time they attempted to protest. During their protest at the gate of the presidential palace in mid-May, Armenian police forcibly dispersed protesters by pushing and striking the angered mothers.

---

Follow Laman Sadigova on Twitter: @s_laman93

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

Loading...
Latest See more