Families of Artsakh soldiers killed in 2023 demand Kamo Vardanyan address Armenian authorities’ manipulations

The Artsakh Info Center issued an open letter from the families of servicemen killed in Artsakh in September 2023.

“After more than 9 months of blockade in September 2023, our loved ones resisted Azerbaijani aggression at the cost of their lives and saved the 120,000-strong population of Artsakh from genocidal extermination.

The acts of self-sacrifice by the soldiers of the Defense Army have been mentioned on numerous occasions. However, along with this, we witness false and manipulative remarks by various representatives of the Armenian authorities and their affiliated media, claiming that the people of Artsakh allegedly did not fight. The latest such example is the disgraceful statement by Armenian MP Khachatur Sukiasyan.

While the representatives of the Armenian authorities disseminate such purposeful disinformation, sowing discord, the commander of the Artsakh Defense Army, Kamo Vardanyan—who was in charge of the defense of Artsakh in those days—remains silent, as he holds a position in Armenia’s Ministry of Defense.

We, the families of the victims of the 2023 aggression, demand that Kamo Vardanyan immediately make a clear statement about the hostilities, as we believe that, first of all, he should speak up and counteract manipulative claims with factual evidence.

We consider the lack of response to this open letter to be a highly reprehensible complicity in this divisive rhetoric and disrespect to the fallen soldiers of the army he leads and their families,” the statement reads.