Tiran Khachatryan: Nikol Pashinyan did for the army what he wanted, not what was needed
27.06.2023. News.am reports::
Nikol Pashinyan did what he wanted for the army, not what was needed, and no amount of substantiation ever mattered to him. This statement was made by Tiran Khachatryan, the former First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces, in an interview with FactInfo, in response to remarks made earlier today by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
To recall, on June 27, speaking at a meeting of the parliamentary committee investigating the circumstances of the 44-day war, Prime Minister Pashinyan stated that everything necessary had been done for the army. “I gave a clear task to the army: tell us what you need, and you will have it,” he said. “For example, they said, ‘We need the SU-30SM, a state-of-the-art jet.’ I said, ‘You’ll have it, if you need it.’ What else do we need? Air defense systems? We’ll get them. What else? I followed the same principle until the end of the 2020 war: Need a rank? You’ll have it. Need a medal? You will have it. Need food? You’ll have it. Need money? You’ll have it. I said yes to everything the army asked for.”
“When Pashinyan says the army was never refused anything it asked for, he should remember how many times the army needed money, they asked for it, but he refused. There were both professional and details substantiations, explanation of the purpose of that money, but they never allocated any,” Khachatryan said.
Regarding the current authorities’ decision to purchase what he described as “useless SU jets,” the former Deputy Chief of the General Staff said that there were individuals who requested the acquisition at the time the decision was made. “Who asked for those SU jets, and on what grounds?” he said. “A criminal case has been initiated over this matter, proceedings are ongoing, and I am a witness in the case. Therefore, I cannot provide further details at this time. The case was opened following the well-known press conference of Colonel General Movses Hakobyan.”
As for servicemen requesting medals and promotions from Pashinyan, Khachatryan remarked that perhaps those with especially close, warm relationships with the Prime Minister made such requests, and he did not refuse them.
To recall, former First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Tiran Khachatryan, was awarded the title of National Hero of the Republic of Armenia but never actually received the medal. Speaking to FactInfo, Khachatryan said that his National Hero medal was never handed over to him and is still at the Ministry of Defense.
When asked why he has not returned the rank and medal awarded by the authorities he refers to as “defeatist,” Khachatryan replied: “Did I receive any rank from them? I have nothing to return.”
Earlier today, Pashinyan stated that perhaps the only way to prevent the war was to abandon the national vision of Nagorno-Karabakh’s independence from Azerbaijan, claiming that such a demand had been made by Baku. In effect, the person holding the office of Prime Minister admitted that he needed the war in order to gain a legitimate basis to renounce Artsakh’s right to self-determination. According to Tiran Khachatryan, Pashinyan did only what he needed to do.
