CLASSROOM WAS NAMED AFTER LEONID AZGALDYAN

On November 22nd, the birthday of fighter-volunteer Leonid Azgaldyan, who perished on June 21st, 1992 for liberation of Nagorno Karabakh from the Azeri invaders and was аwarded a posthumous decoration of 1st degree “Battle Cross”, the classroom of Basic military training of the school No. 80 after V.Vagharshyan was named after the hero. In this connection a solemn ceremony was organized, and L.Azgaldyan’s comrades-in-arms told schoolchildren their memories about Leonid.

L.Azgaldyan was born in 1942 in Tbilisi. He was a specialist of radio physics. In 1990 he headed the Independence Army, in 1991 jointly with Hovsep Hovsepyan he created the regular Liberation Army where there were 300 fighters. His Army was more disciplined than even the Soviet Army. In its ranks served only volunteers, followers of the Armenian national ideology.

In Karabakh the Liberation Army freed 27 settlements without even single wounded or dead. During all the Artsakh war Azgaldyan’s regiment lost 7 fighters.

From Leonid Azgaldyan’s expressions:

• “We are a scanty nation, that means we must have powerful armaments to protect us from armies with numerical strength in a probable war”.

• Near the grave of his deputy Vladimir Balayan: “It doesn’t matter, I’ll leave soon and meet him in heaven”.

• “There are nations which live to die but there are also nations who die to live. Luckily our nation belongs to the second type”.

• To the guys who were telling that they have come to die for Karabakh: “Return home, I don’t need you. I need guys who are ready to fight and live for Karabakh”.

• “Our biggest wealth is the volunteer fighter. Our country does not have bigger value”.

• “Our one soldier is equal to enemy’s 100 soldiers”.

• To a question of a foreign journalist “Which colour you are?” i.e. which party do you belong to, Leonid bent, took a handful of soil and said: “This is my colour”.

• “If they come and say that I perished, don’t believe, I’ll perish at Istanbul walls”.

Shoushan Stepanyan