Haykaz Bagmanyan Joins the Demands of the General Staff

Former Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia, Lieutenant General Haykaz Bagmanyan, has joined the statement made by General Staff generals, officers, and commanders of military units. The general stated this in an interview with 168.am.

"I do not believe that the Armed Forces made this statement without deep consideration. I think they made a serious decision, and I support it. A defeated leader of the country cannot remain in his position; he should have submitted his resignation back on November 10. Now he wants to do a March 1, just like he did in 2008—shooting, burning cars, etc. I believe the recordings from 2008 exist, showing how they rejoiced when the shooting started," emphasized General Bagmanyan.

When addressing claims that the General Staff's statement effectively involves the army in political processes, the general disagreed. "The army does not interfere in political matters; it is a matter of national security. Imagine, seven regions have been surrendered, and in addition, Hadrut has also been surrendered. What are we talking about? If the right decisions are not made now, what is the purpose of the army leadership—to ensure the country’s security? No commander has the right to carry out any orders that threaten national security or lead the country to ruin. All orders given by the General Staff address security issues. That is why people express their opinions," stressed the former Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia.

Haykaz Bagmanyan believes that both the Police and the National Security Service, along with their leaders, will have enough willpower not to execute Nikol Pashinyan's orders. Moreover, he is confident that there are individuals in these structures who do not follow Pashinyan's orders, and their numbers will grow. "Because these shoulder-wearers internally understand what has happened and what is happening, they are simply forced to take certain steps. But I do not believe that the Police or the National Security Service will try to act against the people," emphasized Haykaz Bagmanyan.

Speaking about Onik Gasparyan as a military officer and a general, General Bagmanyan noted that Onik Gasparyan is a very educated officer, a general, which is why it is no coincidence that he is currently the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia. "Onik Gasparyan's actions are seriously reasoned; he does not say anything randomly, and this was the case during the war as well. I believe that the decisions made by Gasparyan were not approved by the Supreme Commander and were not implemented. I am convinced that Onik Gasparyan has made correct decisions that were reported to Nikol Pashinyan, but he rejected them and did not allow their implementation. And after the war, since Nikol Pashinyan is not the person who would take responsibility, he started placing all the blame on the army, saying that this was not done, that was not done. Movses Hakobyan made serious accusations during his press conference, and the culprit in all this is one person—Nikol Pashinyan," concluded Haykaz Bagmanyan.