“We are going to have a new model whereby the chief of the [army’s] General Staff will be the first deputy minister of defense,” Papikian told Armenian Public Television in an interview aired late on Monday.
“The armed forces will deal only with the country’s defense and military training,” he said, adding that the General Staff will no longer be in charge of arms procurements and rear services.
The last chief of the General Staff, Artak Davtian, and six other senior generals were sacked in February through presidential decrees initiated by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
The sackings came one year after Davtian’s predecessor, Onik Gasparian, and four dozen other high-ranking officers accused Pashinian’s government of incompetence and misrule and demanded its resignation. The unprecedented demand was welcomed by the Armenian opposition but condemned as a coup attempt by Pashinian.
Pashinian has still not handpicked a new army chief of staff. Opposition leaders regularly express concern at this fact, saying that it is having adverse effects on national security and defense.
Papikian again dismissed the opposition concerns, reiterating that the acting head of the General Staff, Kamo Kochunts, is in a position to properly lead the armed forces for now.
The minister made clear that the country’s next top general will be installed after the structural changes planned by the government are approved by the Armenian parliament. He did not specify when a relevant government bill will be submitted to the National Assembly.
Pashinian promised a major reform of the military shortly after Armenia’s defeat in the 2020 war with Azerbaijan. He has replaced three defense ministers since a Russian-brokered ceasefire stopped the six-week hostilities in November 2020.
Opposition forces blame Pashinian for the disastrous war that left at least 3,800 Armenian soldiers dead. They also say that his administration is doing little to rebuild the armed forces.
