Today.Az » World news » Armenian volunteers protest non-payment of compensation for fighting in Karabakh war
23 January 2021 [10:37] - Today.Az


By Vafa Ismayilova

A group of Armenians who joined the 44-day war against Azerbaijan as volunteers have gathered outside the Defence Ministry demanding an explanation of why they, like the others, have not been paid compensation so far, the Armenian media reported.

One of the activists David Hovhannisyan said that he joined the war but hasn't been paid the compensation that the state must pay to those who returned from the front.

“I turned to our command but did not receive a clear answer. Then on December 28, we came to the Defence Ministry. Here we were received by Colonel Ara Arakelyan, who promised that all transfers would be made by December 30. I had to turn to the government on December 30," Hovhannisyan said.

Hovhanisyan said that to this date, he hasn't been paid any compensation.

He added that about 2,700 people are in the same situation - they are not registered in any of the military units, but all of them took part in the hostilities.

Earlier, the mothers of the missing soldiers in Armenia held several protests outside the Defence Ministry demanding that officials meet them and answer their questions. 

It should be noted that during the Armenian missile strikes on Azerbaijan's second-largest city Ganja in October 2020, the Azerbaijani mothers urged the Armenian mothers to take their children out of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict area. They stressed that Azerbaijanis were fighting for their lands which belonged to them and questioned what the Armenian soldiers were fighting for.

On November 10, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a Russia-brokered agreement to end fighting in Karabakh and work towards a comprehensive solution.

The November peace agreement ended the 30-year-old conflict between Baku and Yerevan over Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region that along with the seven adjacent regions came under the occupation of Armenian armed forces in the war in the 1990s. For nearly three decades, Armenia failed to implement the UN Security Council resolutions (822, 853, 874 and 884) demanding the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of its troops, which was the main obstacle to the resolution of the conflict.

 The OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France had been mediating the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict since the signing of the volatile cease-fire agreement in 1994. The Minsk Group’s efforts resulted in no progress as Armenia refused to abide by the UN Security Council resolutions.



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