A group of war participants demanded that they be awarded the status of a veteran

Baku/07.03.23/Turan: A group of participants of the Second Karabakh War held a protest rally in front of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry today.

They complained that despite  participation in the war, they could not get the status of a veteran.

"We are denied the status of a veteran. We left our families and went to defend the Motherland. Some were not even reinstated to work later, under the pretext that they were shell-shocked. We demand our rights. We don't even need 80 manats of benefits for the title of "veteran", we just want our status to be recognized," said one of the participants of the action. 

About 20 protesters complained of discrimination in awarding status.

"We fought, slept on the ground, but we are not given status. And those who have good friends have received veteran certificates. It turns out that the poor are not entitled to status?", - said another participant in the war.

Nijat Mustafayev went to the front on the first day of the war.

"I participated in the battles for the liberation of Kelbajar, was awarded a medal.

There is also a record in my military ticket that I will participate in the battles for Kelbajar as part of the n-th military unit. The Ministry of Defense told me that the medal was awarded allegedly for "encouragement". We are not first graders to be "encouraged". We demand our rights," Mustafayev said. 

It was not possible to get comments from the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry. ---06B---