According to the Military Service Act, citizens liable for military service who haven’t served in the army cannot be appointed to a state office in the Republic of Armenia. Although that act was adopted in 1998, the government has not yet approved the list of the offices, which persons who haven’t served in the army cannot hold. Armen Ghularyan, the governor of Tavush, who has governed the bordering region for 13 years already didn’t serve in the Soviet army. In Ghularyan’s official bio, there is no mention that he has participated in the fight for freedom. The region of Tavush shares a 350km border with Azerbaijan. The governor is obliged to coordinate the activities of regional departments of republican executive bodies dealing, along with other areas, with the internal affairs, national security and defense. In December 2011, during President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan’s visit to bordering Voskepar, the governor who hadn’t served in the army was wearing a military uniform. By the way, the third color of the state flag blowing at that moment was not orange, but yellow.
Voskan SARGSYAN
