Azernews.Az

By Ayya Lmahamad

Armenia has recently arrested some former high-ranking defence officials on charges of large-scale embezzlement, fraud and committing socially dangerous acts.

Former Armenian Defence Minister David Tonoyan, who is among the arrested, has been remanded in custody for two months, the Armenian media reported.

Tonoyan was detained on September 30 along with David Galstyan, director of the armament supplier.

Lt-Gen Stepan Galstyan, deputy chief of the Armenian armed forces general staff, was also detained. Earlier, Galstyan was questioned in the case of supplying low-quality ammunition.

Tonoyan and Galstyan are suspected of embezzling about 2.3 billion drams (about $4.7 million), committing socially dangerous acts and forgery. The businessman is also accused of supplying the defense ministry with old and unusable artillery shells.

According to the materials of the case, Galstyan concluded contracts with the Defence Ministry for the supply of artillery shells for 1983-1986 cannons. However, the shells supplied did not meet the requirements of the concluded contract.

"Tonoyan Doctrine"

In July 2020, Armenia launched a large-scale military provocation against Azerbaijan to implement the so-called "Tonoyan Doctrine" named after the former Armenian defense minister.

The doctrine contained fundamentally new guidelines for the conduct of hostilities, in accordance with which Armenia proclaimed the seizure of new territories of Azerbaijan in the event of a new war, announcing its right to inflict preemptive strikes on key Azerbaijani strategic infrastructure facilities, including oil and gas pipelines.

Ganja shelling on October 4, 2020

Some Baku-based media outlets report that in his contacts with the then Armenian defence minister, David Tonoyan through the personal representative of OSCE chairman-in-office Andrzej Kasprzyk, presidential aide Hikmat Hajiyev described the Armenian shelling of Azerbaijani peaceful towns as disgraceful and called for observing elementary rules of warfare, which preclude such atrocities.

Starting from October 4, 2020, at 10:00 (GMT+4) Armenian armed units deliberately targeted the civilian population of Azerbaijan by subjecting the country's second-largest city - Ganja, which is not relevant to the region where the hostilities took place. One civilian was killed and four were injured as a result of a rocket attack by Armenians of Ganja on that day.

Ganja came under rocket fire on October 4, 5, 8, 11 and 17. As a result of this horrific terrorist attack, 26 people were killed and 175 were injured. Civilian infrastructure and vehicles suffered enormous damage.

Apart from Ganja, Armenia targeted civilians in Barda, Tartar, Naftalan and other cities.

A Moscow-brokered ceasefire deal that Baku and Yerevan signed on November 10, 2020, brought an end to six weeks of fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani army declared a victory against the Armenian troops. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it has occupied since the early 1990s.

The peace agreement stipulated the return of Azerbaijan's Armenian-occupied Kalbajar, Aghdam and Lachin regions and urged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it has occupied since the early 1990s. Before the signing of the deal, the Azerbaijani army had liberated around 300 villages, settlements, city centers, and historic Shusha city.

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Ayya Lmahamad is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AyyaLmahamad

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