On Wednesday, November 12, 2014, a military helicopter of the Artsakh Defense Army was shot down by Azerbaijan near the border town of Aghdam. The helicopter was conducting training exercises and was not armed. All three crew members, Major Sergey Sahakyan, Senior Lieutenant Sarkis Nazaryan, and Lieutenant Azat Sahakyan, were killed in the attack.
The Bishops’ Synod, headed by H.H. Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, and H.H. Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, condemned the attack and called for requiem prayers to be offered in memory of the pilots.
Thus, H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate, has advised for requiem prayers to be offered in all Prelacy Churches on Sunday, November 16. May God rest their souls and grant comfort to their loved ones.