‘You can’t say there is chaos, you are not a judge.’ The Chief of General Staff gets nervous

I am a military man, I receive orders, I execute them. This was stated today, April 24, during a conversation with reporters at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex by the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia, Eduard Asryan, when asked why he has not met with the parents of the 15 soldiers who died in a fire at the Azat village barracks.

In response to the observation that they were also military personnel and that the government is exhibiting chaos, Asryan said, 'They were my soldiers, but you cannot say there is chaos; you are not a judge. You don’t know the beginning and end of my activities, what time of day they start and when they end.'

Recall that on January 19, around 1:30 AM, a fire broke out in the barracks of the engineering-sergeant brigades of the N unit of the Armenian Ministry of Defense located in the area of Azat village in Gegharkunik province, resulting in the death of 15 conscript soldiers. Seven servicemen were transported to the Vardenis hospital; of those, four were released after receiving medical assistance, while three were transferred to Yerevan with serious injuries to the National Burn Center.

Immediately after the incident, the commander of the 2nd Army Corps and seven other high-ranking military personnel were relieved of their positions.