Actually, Armenian Defense Ministry Spokesperson Artsrun Hovhannisyan has confirmed the information about dismissal of Mataghis regiment commander Harutyun Amirkhanyan.
Hovhannisyan has told ArmInfo: "By my information, Amirkhanyan has been really dismissed as commander of the Mataghis regiment". He stressed that the Mataghis regiment is under the jurisdiction of the NKR Defense Army and these issues are within the competence of the Defense Army.
When commenting on the rumors that during the days of the April war Amirkhanyan strangely disappeared and then appeared in the regiment only after a verbal truce between the chiefs of the Armenian and Azerbaijani General Staffs was achieved in Moscow, Hovhannisyan said: "By my information, he was absent on leave during the April war".
When asked who headed the regiment during the military actions, Hovhannisyan noted that according to the charter the deputy commander assumes the regiment command if the commander is on leave. At the same time, Hovhannisyan refused to assess the effectiveness of the actions of the Mataghis regiment during the April war.
He also refuted the media reports that Amirkhanyan is the godson of Yuri Khachaturov, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces.
ArmInfo has attempted to get clear information from the NKR Defense Army have been to no avail. NKR Defense Army Spokesman Senor Hasratyan advised ArmInfo's correspondent to visit the NKR Defense Ministry's website before calling him. Then Hasratyan made sure himself that the NKR Defense Army website lacked any information, and said that if the website lacks data about Amirkhanyan's resignation, it is a military secret and cannot be publicized.
When replying to ArmInfo's remarks that the absence of a regiment commander during the military actions cannot help raising public concerns and that this topic cannot remain uncovered, Hasratyan advised ArmInfo to address the questions to Amirkhanyan himself. "Why should I answer the questions for him? You can write that I have no comment," Hasratyan said.
To note, after the April war, the Armenian media outlets reported that during the days of the April war Amirkhanyan strangely disappeared and then appeared in the regiment only after a verbal truce between the chiefs of the Armenian and Azerbaijani General Staffs was achieved in Moscow. Later Amirkhanyan said that he had broken his leg and was undergoing treatment at the Stepanakert hospital. However, this information was not confirmed. Nevertheless, the Armenian media say that Amirkhanyan will shortly be appointed to a higher post.
To recall, during the April war, Mataghis suffered tangible losses.