VAZGEN  MANUKYAN

In the summer of 1992 Nagorno Karabakh was experiencing a tragedy: within one month the Azerbaijani troops occupied Shahumyan and Martakert, about 50 percent of the areascontrolled by the Armenian. It seemed like an effort was needed and the Karabakh issuewould be finally resolved.

It was then that Vazgen Manukyan became the Minister of Defense of Armenia, and the course of the war began to gradually change. With the active participation of Ter-Grigoryants, Deputy Chief of Staff of the USSR Land Forces, a small but efficient army was formed.The Azeris' advance was halted in the autumn of 1992, and in the spring of 1993 the Armenians launched a counterattackand already in August defeated the main strike forces of the Azerbaijani army.

On May 28, 1993, the formation of the Armenian regular army, of which the Karabakh army was an integral part, was almost completed. Kalbajar was captured, Martakert was taken back, the backbone of the Azerbaijani army was broken, and the series of victories continued.A wave of great national enthusiasm arose, and the first military parade took place, which was hosted by the then Defense Minister Vazgen Manukyan.