Whoever the Minister of Defense is, it will still be the will of one person being executed - Seyran Ohanyan

The position of the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia is a political one, and it should be occupied by a member of a political team that must have governance experience. This means that the individual should master all the levels through which they advance in their career and gain work experience, stated former Minister of Defense and leader of the opposition 'Armenia' faction Seyran Ohanyan in an interview with NEWS.am, commenting on Prime Minister's decisions regarding the dismissal of Arshak Karapetyan and the appointment of Suren Papikyan as Minister of Defense.

"Since 2018, how many times have changes been made in such positions? The root of many failures has been these rapid changes, as they do not allow the officials to fully grasp the sectoral issues at hand. In our state, governance is carried out by one person; it is crucial who holds the position of Prime Minister, which is currently occupied by Nikol Pashinyan. Whoever the Minister of Defense is, it will still be executing the directives and will of one person. I do not believe that significant changes can be made in that system in a very short time," noted Ohanyan.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced during a meeting of the Security Council today that he had decided to dismiss Arshak Karapetyan from his position, following an analysis of the events that took place on the eastern direction of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border the day before. When asked about the possible reasons for the dismissal of the Minister of Defense, Ohanyan did not rule out existing tensions at the border.

"To know the reasons behind Arshak Karapetyan's dismissal, it is necessary to ask the individual currently sitting in the government chair, as they possess thorough knowledge of that information. Considering the existing border tensions, I believe that it has also influenced the rapid change of the Minister of Defense," Ohanyan remarked.

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