Retired police major Edic Solakovich Tonoyan was born in 1975 in Mestavan village of Kalinino region of Armenia. He worked in the Kalinin district police department until 2018, and retired in 2018 with the rank of major.
"Dear my compatriots. Our children should not be allowed to fight in Azerbaijan and shed blood. We used to live well. We have been close to each other. Our nations had fraternal and good neighborly relations, " Edic Tonoyan said.
"Afterwards, I have been in Russia for two years to earn money. In 2020, I could not go to Russia with my family to earn money due to coronavirus. I had to stay in Armenia. I was also involved in construction work here. When the war with Azerbaijan broke out on September 27, my son and I were taken to the military commissariat. We agreed at the military commissariat that I would go to military service instead of my son, and I would serve in Armenia. I didn't want to go to Karabakh, because this is not our land. If necessary, I said that I was ready to serve Armenia, but I didn't want to serve Karabakh. I was sent to the outpost in Alaverdi district. I was on post there for a few days. From there, servicemen were sent to serve on the border with Azerbaijan to fight there. There I was told that I had to serve in another military unit in Armenia. I and another person were taken to Yerevan, where 'KamAZ' with people inside was waiting for us. There were 33 people in the car. They promised not to take us to Karabakh. We know that Karabakh is not our land and we don't need to go there. They continued to promise that we would serve in Armenia," he said.
"When we arrived in Gorus, the car stopped and we were given machine guns. We didn't want to take the weapon. However, we were told that this may be necessary for security and self-defense. So, we were taken to the territory of Azerbaijan- Horadiz region. There they showed us where we had to dig a trench. We started digging trenches. When the bombing started, we ran away. Other 33 people who were with me, as well as the 15 who were serving there when we arrived, were all young. They all ran but I could not run with them. I decided to surrender. I threw my machine gun and surrendered to the Azerbaijani Army. "
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