At today's court hearing Arayik Harutyunyan stated that he observed the exercises of the “Karabakh army” in the summer and at the end of June of that year, acknowledging that the exercises were led by the Chief of Staff of the Armenian army, Onik Gasparyan, and that the decisions on strikes deep into Azerbaijani territory had been made in Armenia, APA reports.
“The exercises were led by the Chief of Staff of the Armenian army, Onik Gasparyan. And this was not a secret process, but something that was in front of everyone's eyes. At the end of the summer, Nikol Pashinyan arrived in Karabakh. I accompanied him to the “army units”. He got acquainted with the situation. I could see and hear what was happening in the “armed forces”. I had not received any information from the “Karabakh defense committee”. I was never provided with any information about the situation. I had no authority over the “army”. You know this too. This is also written about in the indictment. It has been repeatedly stated in the Armenian media that Armenia is responsible for the security of Armenians in Karabakh. The Armenian armed forces and the “Karabakh defense army” were also part of that. So, Armenia is responsible for security issues.
