Armenian servicemen return medals in protest against government policies

A group of Armenian servicemen gathered outside the government building on Thursday to return their state awards, protesting what they described as “anti-national and anti-Armenian policies”.

Speaking at the protest, Hovsep Ghazaryan accused the Armenian authorities of attempting to “rewrite history instead of acknowledging their mistakes”.

“They want to erase the struggle for which we shed blood. They claim the last 30 years of our fight were fake, that it never existed. In protest against this disgrace, my fellow servicemen and I decided to return the medals we received during the 44-day war,” Ghazaryan declared.

He said he would hand back both his 2nd Degree Order of the Combat Cross and Medal for Combat Service awarded by the presidents of Armenia and Artsakh. Seven combatants joined the action, returning their medals in solidarity.

“The current Armenian authorities are destroying the very idea of struggle. We raise our voice against it and will keep fighting. We will announce our next steps soon,” Ghazaryan added.