Kyaram Sloyan

Kyaram Sloyan
Born (1996-04-27)27 April 1996
Artashavan, Aragatsotn Province, Armenia
Died 1/2 April 2016 (aged 19)
Martakert, Nagorno-Karabakh
Buried at Artashavan
Allegiance  Nagorno-Karabakh
Service/branch Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army
Years of service 2014-2016
Rank Solider
Unit Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army
Battles/wars 2016 Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes
Awards "For Service in Battle" medal

Kyaram or Qyaram Sloyan (Armenian: Քյարամ Սլոյան; 27 April 1996 – 1/2 April 2016) was a Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army soldier who was killed during the 2016 Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes and beheaded by soldiers of Azerbaijani Armed Forces,[1][2] with videos and pictures of his severed head posted on social networks.[3][4][5][6][7]

Biography

Kyaram Sloyan was born in Artashavan, a village in the Aragatsotn Province of the Republic of Armenia on 27 April 1996 to a poor Yazidi family.[8] His father, Kyalash, is a Nagorno-Karabakh War veteran.[2] Sloyan was drafted to the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army along with 100 other Armenian Yazidis at the age of 18.[7]

Sloyan was one of the first victims of the April War during the last quarter of his military service. He was to be demobilised in about two months.[9]

Death and beheading

Azerbaijani military started attacking Armenian military positions on April 1 and 2 which resulted in casualties on both sides. Sloyan was one of the casualties. During the attack, his unit commander Armenak Urfayan ordered the men of his unit to withdraw upon seeing the numerical superiority of the Azerbaijani forces. Sloyan however refused and both of them were killed by Azerbaijani soldiers.[10] His body was then tortured and beheaded. Images of Azerbiajani soldiers holding his severed head were posted to VKontakte. Soon after this, videos of Azerbaijainis holding his head were released on various websites.[9][11] Azerbaijani sources rejected the allegations of beheading as false.[12] The Sunday Times called them "shocking souvenir photos of uniformed Azerbaijani soldiers posing with the severed head".[1] In their the public report of the Human Right's defender (ombudsman) of NKR, the beheading Kyaram Sloyan by the Azerbaijani troops "constitutes grave breach of customary international law".[13]

On May 3 Azerbaijani Defense Ministry denied this information and reported that all the bodies of the Armenian soldiers were handed over in the presence of international observers, and no traces of violence were detected on the bodies.[14]

Burial

RFE/RL Armenia reported that Sloyan's body was buried without its head on April 5, 2016, in his native village of Artashavan. On April 8, through the mediation of the Red Cross, the Azerbaijani side returned his head.[2] Sloyan was interred for a second time the following day, to lay his head with his body.[11][15][16] He was awarded by the "For Service in Battle" medal posthumously.[9][17]

Aftermath

In April 2016 Armenia’s Permanent Representative to the OSCE, Ambassador Arman Kirakosyan made a statement regarding Azerbaijan’s violations of international humanitarian law at the session of OSCE Permanent Council. He pointed out that 3 servicemen including Kyaram Aloyan were decapitated by Azerbaijani soldiers in a manner characteristic for Daesh/ISIS.[18]

A class at the school of Artashavan village is named after Sloyan.[19]

According to the Regnum News Agency, during his visit to Terter, Agdam and Barda districts, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev awarded the Azerbaijani soldier, who likely posed with the severed head of Kyaram Sloyan.[20]

Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan condemned the encouragement of the Azerbaijani serviceman who was depicted on another photo where the mutilated head of Sloyan was manifestly shown. According to Kocharyan, “the encouragement of such a crime at the highest state level isn’t something new for Azerbaijan: Ramil Safarov, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for having axed sleeping Armenian (Lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan) to death in Budapest, was immediately pardoned, awarded and proclaimed hero by the Azerbaijani President upon his extradition to Baku in 2012.”[21]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Beliakov, Dmitry; Franchetti, Mark (10 April 2016). "Former Russian states on brink of renewing war". The Sunday Times.
  2. 1 2 3 "Armenian Soldier Reburied". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Armenian Service. 11 April 2016.
  3. ↑ "Karabakh conflict: Azerbaijani soldiers behead Ezidi from Armenia – EzidiPress English".
  4. ↑ "Iraqi Yezidis express solidarity with Armenians". mediamax.am.
  5. ↑ "Azerbaijani soldiers behead Armenian Yazidi Kurd: Karabakh conflict". Kurd Net – Ekurd.net Daily News.
  6. ↑ "ИГИЛ в Карабахе: азербайджанские военные отрезали голову армянскому солдату". ИА REGNUM. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  7. 1 2 Lragir.am. "Beheading of Armenian Soldier by Azerbaijanis Is Typical Practice of Islamic State". Lragir.am. Retrieved 2016-04-21.
  8. ↑ "Քյարամ Սլոյան Քյալաշի". Anunner.com. Retrieved 2016-04-21.
  9. 1 2 3 "Qyaram celebrated his birthday a month earlier". A1plus. 2016-04-09. Retrieved 2016-04-21.
  10. ↑ Гибель «срочника» Слояна: расправа исламистов в Нагорном Карабахе, EurAsia Daily, 17/04/16
  11. 1 2 Президент Армении поздравил езидов с праздником Малаки Тауса, 21.04.2016, Blagovest-info
  12. ↑ "Армяне организовали в соцсетях тотальную провокацию" (in Russian). ann.az. 3 April 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  13. ↑ The interim public report of the Human Right's defender (ombudsman) of NKR, European Ombudsman Institute Official Site, April 2016
  14. ↑ Armenian soldiers’ bodies not decapitated or desecrated, says Azerbaijan // azvision.az.
  15. ↑ "Armenian Soldier Reburied". Radio Liberty Armenia. 11 April 2016.
  16. ↑ "Kyaram Sloyan buried for a second time". A1plus. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  17. ↑ Մարտակերտում զոհված Քյարամ Սլոյանին վերահուղարկավորել են
  18. ↑ Armenian Ambassador calls to condemn Baku’s barbarities, Mediamax, 2016
  19. ↑ Քյարամ Սլոյանի անվան լսարան կբացվի, The Voice of Yazidis, 2016
  20. ↑ "Алиев наградил военного, отрезавшего голову армянскому солдату" (in Russian). Regnum News Agency. 2 May 2016.
  21. ↑ Armenia MFA: Azerbaijan has adopted policy of carrying out crimes against humanity, 2016

Links

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