Issues Sending 'Tulik' to Armenian Army Resolved, But Underwear Problem Persists – Kocharian

In the Armenian army today, there is no issue with sending 'tulik', but there is a problem with underwear. Andranik Kocharian, candidate for the chairmanship of the Standing Committee on Defense and Security and a member of the 'Civil Contract' faction, stated this during a parliamentary session in response to a question from 'Armenia' faction MP Aregnaz Manukyan.

In his inquiry, the opposition MP reminded that the NA President Alen Simonian had stated that soldiers went hungry and recalled that during those years, the head of logistics was Gagik Melkonyan, who is now an MP from the CPP faction. “How is it that Gagik Melkonyan, who was head of logistics during Simonian's service, has now appeared in your list and become MP? Have you asked these questions to your leader? Have you demanded answers from Alen Simonian and Gagik Melkonyan? If Simonian was hungry during his service, then Gagik Melkonyan was immediately responsible for that,” said Manukyan.

Andranik Kocharian responded that if the opposition accuses Gagik Melkonyan, they should similarly blame Seyran Ohanyan, Serzh Sargsyan, and Robert Kocharian. “The Minister of Defense for 8 years was Seyran Ohanyan. Therefore, I don’t even want anyone to be blamed here; maybe the opportunities were such at that time. But if you see poor work from Gagik Melkonyan, then you should also note the poor work of Seyran Ohanyan, Serzh Sargsyan, and Robert Kocharian, because they managed the law enforcement agencies at that time,” stated Kocharian.

According to him, Alen Simonian has voiced an opinion shared by many families who had soldiers in the army during those years. Regarding the food issue in the army, Kocharian said that this problem has been resolved today. The variety of food is sufficient to meet the needs of each soldier. “Now many ask why there are no 'clubnikan', other products, vitamins, etc. Yes, there should be a specific variety in the diet so that no one's eye is left unsatisfied. But this should be calculated, considering the caloric value of the diet,” he said.