Surena Papikyan on Death Incidents in the Army

“I would not want to turn the tragic incidents in the armed forces into statistics,” said Defense Minister Suren Papikyan in response to a question from MP Taguhi Tovmasyan during a parliamentary session.

Tovmasyan insisted, however, that regardless of their reluctance to disclose numbers, the ministry publishes this data and expressed a desire to know the specific strategy in place to change the balance of these figures.

The minister responded that while they do not want to reduce the situation to mere statistics, they cannot ignore the mentioned numbers: “Among the non-combat losses in the Armed Forces are those who, while in military service, may die in civilian life—at home, on the road, or as a result of various incidents. Our challenge in this regard includes suicides, instances of leading someone to suicide, and murders.”