Will the Prime Minister's 'Missing' Assistant Dare to Speak?

The newspaper "Zhoghovurd" writes that the Prime Minister's assistant, Gagik Isakhanyan, is coming down on the entire Armenian society, claiming that the relatives of missing servicemen have not joined efforts to conduct search operations. He also points fingers at journalists, suggesting that they should stop exploiting the issue of the missing.

The young official perhaps needs to be reminded that neither journalists nor Armenian society are to blame for the fates of both his deceased brother (may his memory be everlasting) and the hundreds of missing individuals.

It is the Armenian government's responsibility, along with the Ministry of Defense, to address the further fates of those who served in the armed forces and those voluntarily enlisted to defend the homeland. Therefore, it is neither beautiful nor correct to search for other culprits for the mistakes and inaction of the relevant bodies, not to mention throwing a tantrum.

Respecting the grief of every fallen and missing serviceman, journalists have never raised issues that would hurt or offend any family member. However, the young assistant to the Prime Minister takes it upon himself to act as a grand figure and speaks in a lecturing tone to all of us.

The young man from the city of Ijevan was appointed as the Prime Minister's assistant in January 2021, following the war. He speaks ironically about his own appointment, responding to a journalist's question about how he became the Prime Minister's assistant: "I was asleep at home, they called me and asked if I wanted to be an assistant, and since I had dreamed of it since childhood, I said yes."

Incidentally, the families of missing servicemen find themselves in a difficult position. "Zhoghovurd" newspaper has learned that as of September 1, the government has stopped providing financial assistance to the families of missing servicemen. This has sparked a wave of protests among the families of the missing. For context, monthly social support was provided for each missing serviceman in the amount of 300,000 drams.

Moreover, the support payments had a deadline of 9 months, but it was halted in September. It would have been better if the brother of the fallen, who has become the Prime Minister's assistant, tried to raise this issue with Nikol Pashinyan with the same amount of fervor—if he dares to do so.