On 19 August, Armenia’s former President and leader of the Republican Party Serzh Sargsyan held a press conference, which marked his first press conference since his resignation in April 2018. He spoke extensively on the events of the “April War” between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2016.

He was first asked by journalists if he perceived the war as a victory or as a defeat to Armenia. “Before answering the question of whether we won or lost the April War, let me briefly touch on whether we could prevent or avoid the war. Now I can confidently state that it was impossible. Why? Because Azerbaijan was not ready to accept any compromise [that was] acceptable to us: I am convinced that they are not prepared to acknowledge the right of the citizens of Nagorno-Karabakh to determine the status of their country by free will. Thus, there was only one way to avoid war: unilateral concessions, which, of course, was not even discussed as it was unacceptable for us,” he said. 

He then went on to speak about Azerbaijan and its alleged motives during the war.  “Azerbaijan pursued an ultimate goal of achieving a U-turn in the negotiations. They wanted to prove that the conflict might have a military solution as the negotiations were not in their favour. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev demonstrated it best in 2007 during a cabinet meeting of the Government of Azerbaijan, when he acknowledged that behind closed doors the international community had been urging him to recognize Nagorno-Karabakh’s independence. Second, Azerbaijan was striving to [ignore] the fact that Nagorno-Karabakh was a party to the conflict as vividly evidenced by the tripartite ceasefire agreement signed as early as in 1994. Third, it was extremely important for Azerbaijan to root out the loser’s complex in the minds of its own people and in the army by representing themselves as winners,” he said, stating that he is convinced that the April War was a victory for Armenia. 

He stated that the rumours about his intention to hand over territories to Azerbaijan were false. “The maximum task would be to demand that the Azerbaijanis… restore the initial arrangement of the [combat] positions, which the Azerbaijanis did not agree with, arguing that they could not justify in any way their return back to the positions after so many losses. But we have reached the minimum, the acceptable, that no new agreement has been signed, and the 1994 agreement has remained in force because it is of a permanent nature," he said.

Speaking on the matter of the outbreak of the war, Sargsyan admitted that he was surprised that it happened. And when asked why they did not know, he said that Armenian intelligence had failed in that regard. Sargsyan added though that if hostilities in April 2016 were prolonged, Armenia would have recognized the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh. According to him, the recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh must be a justified decision based on the given situation.

When asked if he owes an apology to anyone, Sargsyan said that his government did not do anything to be ashamed of and therefore no need to apologize to Azerbaijan. He noted, however, that he regrets the civilian casualties, both from the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides, but unfortunately, that is also one of the peculiarities of war. 

Sargsyan concluded that the war was a “clear victory to Armenia”, as it spoiled Azerbaijan’s plans. “The unit of measurement is that the President of Azerbaijan publicly declares that he is being forced to recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh. Success is measured by political statements and the statements of the intermediaries, who state that Azerbaijan’s behaviour is inadmissible. You may think I am citing others, but I must say that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can only be settled in the case of coercion of the international community. No leader of Azerbaijan will ever agree to recognize Nagorno-Karabakh’s independence. Frankly, I have never measured any victory with meters or kilometres,” he said. 

When asked about the April War inquiry committee, Sargsyan answered that he won’t talk about it because he promised this to the committee. The country’s former president also drew parallels to the April War and the recent clashes in the Tovuz region, saying that they were not the same intensity. “It is one thing to carry out large-scale military operations, which were carried out in a section of more than 200 kilometres, and another thing—a military clash which takes place in sections of several hundred meters,“ he said. He warned though that today there is a vast danger over a new outbreak of war between Armenia and Azerbaijan.  

Sargsyan also touched upon the topic of the current government’s foreign policy. More specifically, he spoke on Pashinyan’s statements made in Kapan, when he was asked if he still believed that Russia knew about and permitted the “Four-Day War”. Pashinyan said his position remains the same and had shared his opinions and concerns with his Russian colleagues and received answers. According to Sargsyan, such statements were a result of lack of education. “When people express unverified opinions on allied countries, this leads to very serious consequences. Russia is Armenia’s strategic ally, and accusing an allied country of inciting war is inadmissible, especially when Russia has provided a tremendous amount of assistance to Armenia as an allied state,” he said, adding that Russia and Armenia have signed a document by which the military base of Russia has assumed additional obligations and that Armenia received over 50,000 tons of military-technical assistance before the events that took place in April 2018 in Armenia.

Response from Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense 

On the same day, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense replied to Sargsyan’s statements regarding the April War. The Azerbaijani MOD denied Sargsyan’s statement that military instructors from Turkey and Israel were a part of the Azerbaijani Army’s make-up during the April war. “It is known that just the practice of [using]… hired militants from foreign countries due to lack of conscripts and mobilization reserves for calling up for military service in Armenia’s armed forces is widely applied,“ the statement read. 

The ministry said that Sargsyan’s statements were aimed at restoring his reputation amid the Armenian parliamentary commission’s investigation of Armenia’s defeat in the April war. “The Armenian people should know that Former President Serzh Sargsyan and his military-political regime are the cause of the crushing defeat of the Armenian army in the April battles,” the statement further read.

Responses from the Pashinyan’s administration 

The administration of Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan also responded to Sargsyan’s statements. During his press conference Sargsyan said that as a member of the public, he would like to know the exact reasons why the servicemen from the July battles at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border were nominated for high awards. Pashinyan’s Press Secretary Mane Gevorkyan responded by saying that the actions of the awarded servicemen would be presented to the public in detail in the near future.

A parliamentary deputy of the pro-government My Step faction Tatevik Hayrapetyan responded to Sargsyan’s statement over the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiations. She said that as a man who had been engaged in talks with Azerbaijan for many years, Sargsyan should have known that Azerbaijan is driving the process to an impasse with “its maximalist statements”. The lawmaker argued that the actions of the Armenian side during the past two years “have made it possible to keep Azerbaijan within the context of the peace process as long as it is possible…[to stay within their] maximalist position.” 

A member of the investigative commission for the April War Armen Khachatryan denied the statement made by Sargsyan. Sargsyan said that the chairman of the commission Andranik Kocharyan published incorrect numbers regarding the positions that Armenia lost during the war. “The fact that the Armenian side lost about two dozen positions in the April 2016 war was confirmed by former and current officials from the defense sector, who answered the questions of the commission of inquiry,” said Khachatryan.