“I opened Facebook and the first thing I saw was my son’s picture with the text “The soldier who died today in the Meghri military unit is Aghasi Serozh Dallakyan…”: this is how Gohar Hayrapetyan learned about the death of her soldier son.
On October 13, the Ministry of Defense announced another casualty in the army in non-combat conditions. The department reported that the incident occurred around 09:30. The soldier’s mother, in an interview with Forrights.am, called this a lie, noting that she spoke to her son between 09:30 and 10:00.
“I had a videw conversation with my son on Saturday morning. I didn’t notice anything unusual about him, he never complained about his service. He didn’t complain about his fellow soldiers or the officer corps.
The first false fact is this. The Ministry of Defense announced that Aghasi Dallakyan’s body was found at around 09:30, was my child lost, did you find him? My phone records when I spoke to my child and for how many minutes. I spoke to my son from 9:48 and the conversation lasted five minutes and 33 seconds. The first false news is this. Then they said that they confused with Persian time. I don’t understand. Is the RA Ministry of Defense guided by Persian time? – said Aghasi Dallakyan’s mother in an interview with Forrights.am, emphasizing that her son was not in bad mood or worried, otherwise he would hang up the phone quickly; he would not talk for long.
Aghasi Dallakyan was from the Basen community of Shirak province, served in the Agarak sector of Syunik province.
The Investigative Committee of the Republic of Armenia qualified the incident with the conscript as “suicide”, describing the following situation: “The platoon commander of the same military unit, a lieutenant, being the chief for sergeants and soldiers by virtue of his rank, together with one of the ordinary conscripts of the same military unit violated the rules of combat duty, voluntarily left their firing position at the military unit’s guard post with weapons and, together with a group at another firing position in the post, humiliated the honor and dignity of Aghasi Dallakyan, a conscript from the same military unit who was on combat duty. As a result, being in a desperate situation, on the mentioned day, while performing his duties as an observer at the same firing position, the latter fired one shot in the chin area with an “AKM” assault rifle attached to him and committed suicide. Based on the factual data obtained, a motion was submitted to the supervising prosecutor to initiate public criminal prosecution against the above-mentioned two persons involved in military service, which was granted. The latter were arrested,” the Investigative Committee’s statement reads.
The Dallakyans do not believe in the suicide version. The mother stated in an interview with Faorrights.am: “No, I do not believe in that version. My son was not a weakling; he did not hurt anyone, nor did he allow anyone to hurt him. He would never have raised a hand against himself. If he had been about to commit suicide, would he have answered his mother’s call, would he have spoken calmly? I called at 9:48, asked why you didn’t call in the morning, he replied, ‘I was at the post all night, I was sleeping.’ And when I asked why he didn’t call in the evening, he said in a calm tone, ‘Last night the guys from the upper deck came to visit, we were sitting and talking’. Do you know that armed guys are taken out to positions alone, there is no superior, there is no supervision. What does it mean to come 1.5 km from the other position and visit them?” the mother said that on October 13, when she was talking to her son, she learned that other servicemen had come to the boy’s positions. “During the conversation, he said that a car was coming. He said, ‘Mom, turn it off, it looks like an officer is coming.’ I didn’t turn off the call and heard him call the senior officer, Manuk Tonoyan, and he said, ‘What car has arrived?’ and hung up the phone,” the mother said, noting that she called her son a short time later, but he didn’t answer.
“We know that the officer and the soldier who left their post and came as guests have been arrested, as well as his senior, Manuk Tonoyan and Arshak Mirzakhanyan, who were on duty with my son. One of those who came from the other post was named Aramayis, whose nickname was Tanges, and the lieutenant, Ruben Safaryan. Everyone obeyed Tanges, he was the “boss” of the squad, my son did not obey him. That was the problem between my son and him. Agasi did not tell us anything; his fellow soldiers told us that they wanted to break Agasi’s spirit. There was a convenient moment in the positions, there was no officer next to my son. They have had problems since August that Agasi should obey Tanges, like everyone else. He has decided that he must break Aghasi’s spirit before he is discharged. I am sure that they shot my son, it is their own doing. If the military unit does not have a commander, who do we trust our children when sending them to the army? If street manners and morals should apply in the army, what is the role of the commander, if he is not aware of what is happening in his military unit? Who is responsible for my child? Did they give life to my child to have the right to take it away? The suicide version is a convenient option for them to close the case, perhaps, “said the mother, emphasizing the fact that the servicemen were alone in the positions, without the commander’s supervision.
Gohar Hayrapetyan notes that her son did not commit suicide, but was killed. As for the other misfortune, the Ministry of Defense reported negligently. Two hours after the incident, representatives of the community administration and the military committee visited the Dallakyan family. Gohar Hayrapetyan notes that before coming home, the military commission employees had been to the relatives’ house and suggested that they tell the family about Aghasi’s death. “Our relatives said, ‘You brought the black news, but you want us to tell them; how can we go and tell those people something like that?’ They came to our house and said, ‘He is wounded: he shot himself in the shoulder while cleaning his weapon, he is wounded.’ I didn’t believe, I said, ‘He’s in positions, how can he clean his weapon?’ . . . During that time, they had turned off the internet at home, they had taken my phone from my hand, but at one point I saw it lying on the table, I picked it up and went online. I opened Facebook, and the first thing that came up was my son’s picture, with the text, ‘The soldier who died today in the Meghri military unit is Aghasi Serozh Dallakyan’… that’s how we found out,’” she said.
Aghasi Dallakyan bore the name of his grandfather. Senior Aghasi Dalakyan, in an interview with Forrights.am, notes that they will fight for the restoration of justice.
“We will not bring our child back, whoever has anything to do with what happened to our grandson must be punished with all the severity of the law and in front of their parents, so that it serves as an example to others. What is this, is it service, is it prison? We keep him for 18 years, raise him, give him to them, for them to bring him, through down and go? Is this a state, is it a Ministry of Defense? What do they think, what is happening in the army? How many cases like this should happen? They should give these boys such a punishment that it would be an example for the rest of the soldiers. Who has seen an officer go rogue in the army, play with the fate of a soldier? If he had been hit by a Turkish bullet, I would not have felt as much pain as now when he is gone by an Armenian’s hand,” he said.
Narek Kirakosyan