My Step deputy and chair of the Inquiry Committee for Examining the Circumstances of the Military Activities of 2016, Andranik Kocharyan, was asked during a briefing whether or not he is preparing to summon Nikol Pashinyan to clarify the role that Russia played in the war.
Kocharyan said, “At the moment, we have not found the need to summon Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan as a result of committee discussions due to the fact that Nikol Pashinyan was not in power at the time. If he expressed any opinion, many politicians also expressed the same opinion.” Andranik Kocharyan said that all opinions are being investigated and, if the need for clarification arises, only the agencies that had authority are being asked to clarify, such as the Defense Army and the Ministry of Defense.
Reporters also asked about whether Arshak Karapetyan, who was the head of the Intelligence Department of the Armed Forces Chief of Staff, will be called to another session due to issues that took place within the intelligence. Andranik Kocharyan said, “If the committee finds that doing so is necessary, he will be summoned, because you also understand that there may be opinions within the committee after listening to Serzh Sargsyan that soldiers may be summoned to answer questions once more.”
He also found it to be critical that the former Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, Yuri Khachaturov, be present during a committee session. “Serzh Sargsyan became convinced that the committee did not ask any questions due to political motivations. All questions asked were professional and correct, which only the commander in chief at the time would have been able to answer. Our work would be complete if the top military officer in the country would find the strength to come to a committee session. If he found the strength to present his opinions for a documentary that does not have any legal value, if he was able to present events during that documentary, then he can also participate in the activities of an inquiry committee that was formed based on constitutional demands. And, he can even come to the committee and speak about the same things. He needs to be ready to answer the professional questions of the committee members that his former leader, Serzh Sargsyan, also answered.”
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Hripsime Jebejyan
