Commanders of 708th Brigade of the destruction of Monte Melkonian

Following the statement by the former chief of Defence Intelligence Agency, General Talib Mammadov of fraud in the killing of terrorist Monte Melkoyana,  Turan agency approached the former commander of the 708th Brigade Khatai Bakhishov.

Currently Bakhishov is acting colonel of the Armed Forces, a Knight of the Banner of Azerbaijan. In June 1993, Bakhishov commanded the Second Battalion 708th Brigade and the men of this battalion fought off the villages Marzili, Yusifjanly, and Novruzlu.

The interview was also attended by former deputy commander of the 708th Brigade Umudvar Mirzayev and separate battalion commander Ilham Binnat.

- The first question to Khatai Bakhishov: Who destroyed Monte Melkonian?

- I can repeat what I said back in 2005: The version of Ibad Huseynov that he killed Monte Melkonian is untenable and is built on fraud. Moreover, its lies are constantly "improved," but let's recap.

Several years ago, Ibad Huseynov (then calling himself Vugar Hasanov) argued that he beheaded Melkonian, whom he met near the Armenian headquarters in the village of Muganli Khojavend. In this case, he did not know the identity of the deceased, and realized it only in the evening June 12, 1993, watching the program ‘Time in Moscow’ – then he heard along with his comrades that they had killed Melkonian. When shown a photograph of the deceased, Ibad and his companions realized whom they had beheaded. This version is presented in the paper "525" of July 23, 2005.

However, a few years later, a film was made about Ibad Huseynov, which set out a different version. It says that there was intelligence that the Armenians had a commander named Avo and the group led by Ibad was specially sent to kill him. Seeing Avo, Ibad and his associates recognized him and decided to attack, so they say in the film.

  Also, in the film there are new characters that were not there in 2005: it is the unit commander, who allegedly adjusted the action, received intelligence and conducted combat operations, as well as the MNS, which supposedly corrected these operations.

As a military man, I want to stress the specific area of ​​operations was under the control of the regular units, and in this case it was our team. Without consulting with us, no one could conduct any operations, and any operation referred to in the film, did not in fact exist. 

In this zone there was a local self-defense unit, which was formed in August 1993. However, the film talks about the commander of the unit in June 1993!

In addition, the commander of a separate intelligence company in the area, Tofig Jafarov (Rafiq), confirms that in 1992-93, neither Ibad Huseynov nor anyone else got the job and did not carry out the operation to destroy Avo.

Next question to Umudvar Mirzoyev: Whose head was shown by Ibad Huseynov?

- The picture of the severed head was for a long time demonstrated by Ibad and his friends as strong evidence of his merit, but some time ago they stopped showing it.

Let's go back to 2005, when the first investigative report was objectively held by journalists on the subject and the real participants in the killing of Melkonian were named. This article was published on July 9, 2005 in the newspaper Gun Sahar and it was proved that Melkonian was killed by our soldiers. But "suddenly", two weeks later, an article appeared in the 525th Gazet paper, where the author attributed these achievements to Ibad Huseynov (Vugar Hasanov). In this case, the severed head was shown as proof.

But the same article states that the Melkonian funeral took place in Yerevan in the presence of a hundred thousand people, and a headless body was buried. In this case, reference is made to  Moscow TV, which is presented as irrefutable proof.

But no reports of Melkonian’s death could ever be on Moscow TV. Thus, the Armenians did not open the death of Melkonian at once, and buried him just on 19 June. Only then the AFP news agency, and then the Komsomolskaya Pravda reported the death of Melkonian. So neither Ibad nor his friends could hear the message on Moscow TV and see photos of Melkonian on June 12.

But even if we assume that the funeral of Melkonian was displayed, Ibad and the company should have seen that the head of the terrorist was on the spot! They bandaged the upper part of the head and all. Today the video of his funeral is on the Internet, and anyone can see it. Here is the link:

Now let's see the photo of the head: no sane or forensic expert will say that this is one and the same person. Specialists, by comparing the shape and length of the nose, chin, lips, cheekbones, distance between the eyes and other parts of the face, easily prove that they are two different persons.

Here's a photo of Melkonian and that shown by Huseynov:

Once in several publications, the association of the head with Melkonian was refuted, Ibad and his friends stopped showing it. However, I would not be surprised if now they pull out "references and instructions" about getting the job and the quest to destroy Melkonian.

- Why do they need this and how can such a thing happen?

- Maybe somebody decided to use the story and capitalise on this policy and other assets. But I do not understand how you can educate the youth on all this. How can they trample martyrs who were killed in the battle, destroying Melkonian and others?

A question to Ilham Binnatov: How was the fight?

In this case, among other things, there is a purely military aspect. We are talking about a combat situation on the front line on that section. Thus, heavy fighting on the left flank of Agdam followed the line Marzili-Novruzlu-Yusifjanly. This was the main axis of the Armenian forces. On June 12 they captured the villages and we attacked this site to recapture the villages. At great cost and substantial losses, we were able to do it. Heavy fighting took place virtually without interruption.

As you know, this offensive was commanded by Melkonian, and where should he have been at this point? Should he have commanded the offensive, or have walked in the village Muganli ten kilometers away from the battle? I think that even a military man will give the correct answer.

In addition, during the second half of the day, the Armenian offensive ended abruptly and calm through Marzili-Novruzlu-Yusifjanly lasted for nearly two weeks. Only later did we find out what happened, and the Armenians could not come to themselves from the shock caused by the destruction of Melkonian. According to our intelligence, many of his companions left for Yerevan for the funeral. At the same time, the Armenian offensive intensified on the right - in the area of Eddihyrman.

The brother of Melkonian, Markar, published two books on the life of Monte and details of his actions in Karabakh until the moment of his death. If you believe Ibad, Markar invented the version of the death of Monte shot from our armored vehicle, but how about the fact that the description of the fighting we have, is the same as all that is written in the book?

- And what does it say? (Contributed by Khatai Bakhishov)

- It says that after the Armenians seized Marzili, Novruzlu and Yusifjanly, Azerbaijanis went to  counter attack and began to beat back the Armenians. After receiving this information, Monte immediately went there. He, along with several military, drove the car UAZ. At the entrance to the village, they came under fire. Monte jumped out and tried to hide behind a stone wall. However, a splinter from a shell fired from our BMP dealt him a mortal wound on the head.

So, this fight in the region was led by us, and we saw all that with our own eyes. Of course, we did not know that it was Melkonian, and could not know it.

The armored vehicle crew, who fired at Melkonian’s car, consisted of three people; two of them died heroically – they are Shaig Kalbiev from Bilasuvar and Asaf Mutallimov from Neftchala. 

The third one, then 19-year-old Azaddin Musayev, is alive and well and now serves in our military. That's who are the real heroes, that's about whom we should write articles and whom we should show on television, whom we should cite for the rising generation, who are the right people to take an example and who should be exalted and rewarded!

- What are you going to do?

- We - Karabakh war veterans will defend the truth in all honest ways. In order to put an end to all this speculation, we offer an independent competent commission of military experts, lawyers and criminologists. Let each side present their arguments and evidence, and let the commission conduct a fair and impartial investigation. I think, to establish the truth will not be difficult, as there are archives of the Ministry of Defense, Intelligence Agency, videos and photos, and witnesses to the events.

I also want to appeal to the press, asking them to be careful and to specify and verify the facts before they publish them. -02B-