Abrahamyan: Papikyan is Unaware of Non-Combat Losses Recorded in 2021

During the question-and-answer session with the government, I directed inquiries to the Minister of Defense, to which catastrophic responses were given. Some questions did not receive any answers at all. This is reported by Tigran Abrahamyan, a member of the ‘Honorable’ faction in the National Assembly, on his Facebook page.

“Firstly, the Defense Minister is unaware of the number of non-combat losses recorded in our armed forces during 2021. This is despite the fact that everyone should be aware of the details. Secondly, it became clear that two soldiers went missing from combat positions in May and November, and the Ministry of Defense did not issue an official statement regarding one of them. It was concealed.

I should note that this does not refer to soldiers captured or missing due to Azerbaijani aggression on May 12 or November 16. To my surprise, the Defense Minister was astonished that there were details I was presenting or statements I was making based on information obtained from the Ministry of Defense’s clarifications. I had thought the Minister would be surprised if I were drawing conclusions based on unverified facts.

Overall, Papikyan exhibited rather strange behavior, for instance, in response to my question about whether the causes of non-combat losses in the army have been analyzed, he mentioned several circumstances, including attributing some blame to the press and the opposition, implying that public discussions on many incidents by media and certain opposition figures have contributed to the increase of non-combat losses in the armed forces. It was difficult to expect a more disgraceful response.

Papikyan is perfecting the unproductive operating style of his predecessors, turning the Ministry of Defense into a closed entity. Under the pretext of 'classified information,' he is concealing information from the public that has no relation to service or state secrets.

It is clear that Papikyan acts within the logic of this government, so one should not be surprised by many things, but with this behavior, he aspires to surpass even Vagharshak Harutyunyan,” Abrahamyan wrote.