Your trusted source

MP Tigran Abrahamyan, who represents the opposition With Honor faction, says Armenia’s new Defense Minister Suren Papikyan “remains silent” just like his predecessors.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, the lawmaker recalled that Papikyan is the fourth defense minister of Armenia appointed after last year’s war.

“David Tonoyan has been arrested, Vagharshak Harutyunyan is vying for a diplomatic job, there is no information about Arshak Karapetyan and no one knows about the activities and priorities of the incumbent minister,” he wrote.

“Armenia has had a new defense minister for more than a month, but Papikyan remains silent just like his two predecessors,” Abrahamyan stated.

The MP noted that he deplored most of Tonoyan's initiatives and strongly condemned his “unacceptable” behavior after the war. However, the latter publicly unveiled his vision and plans while in office, he said.

“In regard to Papikyan’s activity, only a few statements on official meetings and discussions have been released, whereas there has been no word yet on what he thinks about the restoration of the system he leads, the elimination of the consequences of the war and the modernization of the army,” the MP said, stressing the need for public accountability.

“The military budget for 2022 can be described as inertial. It seems to me that the defense minister, the chief of the military’s General Staff and especially Pashinyan don’t know where to start from.

“Pashinyan's activities after 2018 were aimed at crushing the security system and all his initiatives not only failed, but also swept away what had been created for decades. Pashinyan continues to destroy the state systems, while all the forces and figures involved, regardless of their personal and professional qualities and the circumstances in which they have ended up in the ruling team, will be held to account for all his actions and inaction,” Abrahamyan said.