Andranik Kocharyan Responds to Ruben Hayrapetyan

Andranik Kocharyan, a member of the "My Step" faction of the National Assembly, wrote on his Facebook page: "Ruben Hayrapetyan, a year ago in response to your grand statements you received a comprehensive and appropriate reaction corresponding to your ‘disposition’, and I had hoped that after fleeing justice, you would at least withdraw from public life in Armenia, since you and your political associates, under the leadership of your spiritual guide Serzh Sargsyan, have long been rejected. But once again, you appeared on air, inviting your beloved Satik Sargsyan and her working group to Russia.

During the program, your obese figure was striking, perhaps due to that, your brain is also suffering from obesity, as you are evidently suffering from amnesia (let me add an explanation in parentheses, so you do not suffer too much - an absolute absence of memory). Let me elaborate: I would not waste my time listening to your lies and discussing the motivations behind your second appearance, as your lies pertained not only to exploiting my name but also to the people whom a person with your character cannot defame.

Everyone has moments in their lives that they strive to forget; in this case, it pertains to you when in the 90s, during my tenure as Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and later Defense Minister, you were searching for acquaintances within those ministries for around four years at any cost to be noticed by me and to appear in my circle.

Now let me remind you about your entry into the Armenian business world. In the 90s, through the mediation of Prime Minister's assistant Smbat Hakobyan, an ordinary employee of the "Veterok" company in Avan became the Deputy Director of the Yerevan "Hay Tobacco" factory. Many will remember that before taking that position, you voluntarily assumed the role of a "security officer" trailing S. Hakobyan. Society has not forgotten your brutal vendetta against him on the occasion of Independence Day on September 21, 2016.

It appears that before 2018, you constantly sought sponsors under the guise of friends, especially in power structures, initially with Smbat Hakobyan, then me, followed by former NSS Director Carlos Petrosyan, then NSS Director Serzh Sargsyan, and now under the current government, former NSS Director Arthur Vanetsyan. Your relationship with the latter also had a business direction, within which you handed over the presidency of the Football Federation of Armenia to him. During Vanetsyan's tenure as NSS Director, national security was interested in periodically granting you audience there. I believe that your current circle should at least be concerned about such familiarities.

I also remind you that in your quest for sponsors, despite not accepting the years of former President Levon Ter-Petrosyan's rule according to your taste, you would eagerly pave the driveway of his residence. In 1998, you also sought the patronage of Gagik Jhangiryan. However, besides seeking sponsors, you very quickly also deny them, just like Khoren Hovanisyan, Harant Vardanian, Lida Sahakyan, and others. This list can go on indefinitely. Forgetting sponsors is closely tied to a person's position and power changes.

However, during the interview, the most terrifying aspect was that you attempted to act as a defender of the military's generals while simultaneously discrediting people involved in our past and present hero narratives, such as Union of Spartakians leader Sasun Mikayelyan and Lieutenant General Gurgen Melkonyan, who did not leave Karvachar during the 44 days of the second Artsakh war. Incidentally, during Sargsyan's tenure as defense minister, Melkonyan held the post of Deputy Minister of Defense. Your comments about these individuals can be characterized as manifestations of deceit.

Defending the military's generals is a person whose subordinate security officers killed officer Vahe Avetyan as a result of beating. Knowing both you and these security officers well, I can assume that they would not have dared to do anything without your direct orders. And you "mourn" about this incident. Simultaneously, before acting as a defender of the military, remember that there was much talk about how you, as an oligarch in personal service for Serzh Sargsyan, hosted generals on the territory of your football academy built on your own land. Essentially, from a certain point, generals associated their career advancements with your person. Nonetheless, you should have been isolated from power structures back then.

I also remind you how you behaved with the doctor of the Armenian national football team, Vardan Hovhannisyan, who had rendered indisputable services to your family as well. As for the investigative commission studying the circumstances of the 2016 war, let me state that if the Commission’s president and the Commission, constituted by law, did not hold weight and had no connection to the army, former President Serzh Sargsyan, former Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan, the former president of Artsakh, and several current and former high-ranking officers would not have appeared before the Commission. Hence, during the interview, you simultaneously highlight and devalue these individuals by exploiting their participation in the Commission’s sessions. At this moment, by taking on the role of chief provocateur, you are trying to create tension between me, the Minister of Defense, and the Armed Forces, forgetting that the current minister was appointed to that position for the first time by Marshal Vazgen Sargsyan. Your behavior is obviously due to the fact that you have not been punished until now.

This was just the first stage of refreshing memories, and I believe that after reading this, during the programs hosted by your beloved Satik Sargsyan, Anna Israelian, and others, you will focus solely on the criminal prosecution case brought against you. By the way, regarding this, let me also remind you that you have become acquainted with part of the editorial staff of the "Aravot" newspaper through me in the past.

You often brag about calling cowards 'rabbits', thus I suggest that you come to Armenia as soon as possible and prove that you are a lion. I sincerely hope that our next meeting will be in a new Armenia, where you no longer have sponsors in the power structures. Finally, I may agree with you on at least one point: I did not set foot in Artsakh from October 27, 1999, until 2018. I hope this will be enough for not seeing you on screen anymore."