Is it true that the Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan is cleaning out the Ministry of Defense? “Mr. Papikyan did not clean out the staff, and in general, when there is a change of head in all state bodies, certain personnel changes also take place. If we follow the news, there is a serious cleanout, but there is no problem and it can not be called a cleanout when there have been several changes.”
When asked whether that young 23-year-old girl, Mane Markosyan, was appointed assistant to the Minister of Defense or not, and if so, how she can help the Minister, Arman Sargsyan answered, does age matter? “Should the assistant to the Minister of Defense be a military man? I am not a military man and I am the Deputy Minister of Defense. I think I can solve the problems set before me. You are not very informed about the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defense. In general, the Armed Forces is led by the General Staff. My position is a political position, and I give you as much information as I can and as much as I need to, so the lack of military knowledge of the Assistant Minister of Defense can not be a problem.”
In response to the journalists’ surprise about how she can help when she has neither experience nor professional skills, and the 23-year-old does not even have life experience, Arman Sargsyan countered, “You can’t say that, do you know if she has professional experience or not? It is a specific sphere, administrative work is carried out and each assistant to their head, now here in the National Assembly they come up with legislative initiatives, are they all supposed to be lawyers? No. Are their assistants people with a lot of experience?”
Hripsime JEBEJYAN
