Azerbaijani Veterans of the second Karabakh war rally against discrimination
On June 29, a group of veterans of the second Karabakh war held a protest in front of the building of the main department of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense. Protesters complained about discrimination during the medal awarding ceremonies, as well as problems with the treatment of acquired disabilities.
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On June 26, the day of the anniversary of the creation of the armed forces of Azerbaijan, the President of the country Ilham Aliyev signed several orders on awarding the participants of the second Karabakh war with medals of distinction. The war veterans, who did not find their names in the lists of awardees, held a protest in front of the building of the Ministry of Defense and demanded that their other problems be solved.
“We went from Aghdam to Lachin, what else should we have done? Wherever we go, we are met with silence”, said the war veteran Isag Yunusov. He fought as part of the 877th military unit and received a fracture and a burn of his arm as a result of a mine explosion. Isag also suffered a head injury.
“All our documents are notarized and approved by the Ministry of Defense. Our military cards indicate where we fought, everything is there – Agdam, Fizuli, Kelbajar, Shusha, Lachin. But wherever we go, no one pays attention to our medals or to the fact that we are veterans”, he added in an interview with MeidanTV.
According to the press service of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry, the protesters were received by officials of the department.
During the meeting with the protesters, it was noted that the participants in the war were awarded taking into account their combat path and after investigating the direct participation of veterans in the battles.
The participants of the protest were listened to and appropriate military units were given instructions to consider issues taking into account statements of the veterans.
