Pashinyan Rejects Demand to Meet Parents of Soldiers Who Died in Barracks, Lawyer Says

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has not accepted the request from the parents of fallen soldiers to meet with them. This was reported on Facebook by Norair Norikyan, a lawyer representing the parents of the deceased servicemen.

“As you know, the parents of the 15 soldiers who died in the military barracks in Azat village met yesterday with the head of the Department of Application Review, Feedback Monitoring and Assessment of the Government Staff of Armenia, during which the parents presented a request to organize a meeting with Nikol Pashinyan,” he wrote.

“Today, the said department head officially and literally stated that Prime Minister N. Pashinyan has great interest in the mentioned criminal case, considering that the case concerns the Armed Forces of Armenia and the fallen servicemen. At the same time, it was stated that at the stage of the criminal investigation, it is not expedient to meet with the parents of the fallen soldiers. After the investigation is completed, if the parents insist on a meeting with the Prime Minister, it will be possible to discuss this issue then.”

“It was also mentioned that from tomorrow, meetings with the parents of the deceased soldiers will be organized by the officials of the Investigative Committee of Armenia. In addition, the head of the department mentioned that, in essence, organizing a meeting with the parents and the Minister of Defense, Suren Papikyan, is also not possible at this stage, as he is currently out of the country, and it is still unclear whether such a meeting will take place upon his return.”

“From the above, it can be concluded that Nikol Pashinyan has not accepted the demand of the parents of the fallen soldiers to meet with them. From this response, it can be inferred that a meeting with Suren Papikyan may not take place either,” he added.