Bringing Such Issues to the Agenda Marks the Official Start of the Army's Dissolution, Says Hovhannisyan on Integrating the General Staff into the Ministry of Defense

The operations of the General Staff, the Ministry of Defense, the Constitutional Court, and similar structures are regulated not by ordinary laws but are established by constitutional laws. This means that there is no provision to allow any government to come in and make changes to the operations of these structures according to its preferences; rather, the operations of these structures are defined by the Constitution.

This statement was made by military expert Karen Hovhannisyan in an interview with ArmDaily.am, responding to Edmon Marukyan's announcement that certain members of the ‘My Step’ bloc are initiating changes to incorporate the General Staff into the Ministry of Defense.

“Therefore, in order to implement any changes in the General Staff and place it under the control of the Ministry of Defense or under the Prime Minister's control, constitutional amendments must be carried out at the very least. This cannot be done by a single law because, in that case, it would conflict with all other laws and create issues. Furthermore, I must emphasize that such a thing cannot happen, and if we are discussing structural changes of this nature, amendments must be made to the Constitution, as well as modifications to the Administrative Code and the Criminal Code. In other words, an entire system needs to be changed, which is not a one-day task but rather a matter of years.

Overall, I must also stress that bringing such issues to the agenda is already the official start of the army's dissolution and dismantling,” he concluded.