Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan

Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan (Armenian: Արկադի Տեր-Թադևոսյան; Russian: Аркадий Тер-Тадевосян; also known by the troops under his command as Komandos (Armenian: Կոմանդոս); born May 22, 1939) is a Soviet and Armenian Major General, a military leader of the Armenian forces during the Nagorno-Karabakh War and Armenia's former Deputy Minister of Defense.[2] Ter-Tadevosyan is best known as being the commander of the operation to capture the town of Shushi in May 1992.[3]

Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan
Ter-Tadevosyan in Shushi in 2012
Native name
Արկադի Տեր-Թադևոսյան
Birth nameArkady Ter-Tadevosyan
Nickname(s)Komandos (in Nagorno-Karabakh)
Mountain Fox (in Afghanistan)
Born (1939-05-22) 22 May 1939
Tbilisi, Soviet Georgia, Soviet Union
Allegiance Soviet Union
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
Armenia
Service/branch Soviet Army
Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army
Armed Forces of Armenia
RankMajor General (1992)
Commands heldNagorno-Karabakh Defense Army[1]
Battles/warsSoviet–Afghan War
Nagorno-Karabakh War
Capture of Shusha
Awardssee below

Biography

Ter-Tadevosyan was born in Tbilisi, Georgian SSR. After graduating from a high school in Tbilisi, he decided to become an officer. He attended the Baku Combined Arms Command School and later Leningrad Military Academy of Rear Services and Transportation. He served in Afghanistan where he earned the nickname, Mountain Fox. He continued his military service in East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Belarus, and also served as a lecturer at the Armenian State Agrarian University. With the breakup of the Soviet Union and the brewing conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, Ter-Tadevosyan took part in organizing in 1990 the defense of Armenian villages straddling the borders of Soviet Azerbaijan. He joined the Sasuntsi Davit Detachment to defend villages from constant attacks launched by Azerbaijani militants.

Karabakh War

Thereafter, he went to Nagorno-Karabakh to train soldiers. Ter-Tadevosyan was appointed Head of Training Corps Defense Committee in 1991. In 1992 he was named commander of the operation (dubbed Wedding in Mountains) to seize the strategic town of Shusha, the capture of which in May 1992 marked the first significant military victory by Armenian forces during the Nagorno-Karabakh War. Ter-Tadevosyan is known in Armenia as the "mastermind of Shusha liberation".[4] He participated in the formation of the Armenian armed forces and assisted it to overcome significant challenges before it could emerge as a well-developed institution.[5] On 25 May 1992, Ter-Tadevosyan was awarded the rank of Major General for his accomplishments during the Nagorno-Karabakh War. He also received the Order of the Combat Cross (1st class).

Later life

In May 2000, Ter-Tadevosyan left the Yerkrapah veterans union and founded the Veterans of the War of Liberation organization, although he left it in July of that year, expressing personal grievances about those who had joined it.[6]

The President of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Bako Sahakyan, awarded him with the Order of the Golden Eagle and the title of Hero of Artsakh on the 17th anniversary of the Capture of Shusha in 2009.[7] The region continues to hold much meaning to Ter-Tadevosyan, who spends at least one week each month there.[8]

Ter-Tadevosyan is currently supervising the training of specialists in the Armenian armed forces.[4]

Awards
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References
  1. Anon. Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict: Chronology of Key Events February 1988-June 2003 Archived 2008-06-07 at the Wayback Machine. NKR Office in Washington D.C. Retrieved July 16, 2008.
  2. "Armenian general on OSCE MG co-chairs’ parity." Tert. Retrieved May 18, 2012.
  3. Melkonian, Markar. My Brother's Road: An American's Fateful Journey to Armenia. New York: I. B. Tauris, 2005, pp. 219-220 ISBN 1-85043-635-5
  4. (in Armenian) Կոմանդոս. Կենաց պայքար (Komandos: A Struggle for Survival) Archived 2018-07-18 at the Wayback Machine." Panarmenian.net. November 2, 2010.
  5. "ACNIS Salutes the Armenian Armed Forces on Army Day". January 28, 2010. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved May 19, 2012.
  6. Ter-Saakyan, Karine. "Karabakh Veterans Split by Conflicting Loyalties." Institute for War & Peace Reporting. CRS No. 52, October 6, 2000. Retrieved July 16, 2008.
  7. NKR President decorates Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan with the Golden Eagle Order Archived 2013-10-29 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved May 18, 2012.
  8. Commandos: struggle for survival, Panarmenian.net, 2010 Archived 2017-10-08 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved May 19, 2012.

Further reading
  • (in Armenian) "Tadevosyan, Arkady" entry in the Encyclopedia of Karabakh Liberation War: 1988-1994. Yerevan, 2004.
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