Month: February 2021

Head of the Henaket Analytical Center Tigran Abrahamyan took to Facebook on Wednesday to warn of a new “dangerous trend” connected with the military.

“The fate, status, functions and reforms of the Artsakh Defense Army have been widely discussed recently. The fact that an internal war against the armed forces has been waged for a long time is probably beyond doubt,” he wrote.

“I have also observed a new dangerous trend: in the post-war period, various media outlets reported violence against high-ranking officers. I suppose that only incidents involving top army officers have been made public, whereas the command staff of the lower link is also subjected to various psychological pressures and not only.

“It’s not ruled out that some officers failed to properly fulfill their combat tasks during the war, however such issues should be resolved through legal means, rather than on the streets.

“I consider it unacceptable to blame everyone for the dishonest service of some officers. I strongly believe that the number of commanders who behaved inappropriately is small. A large number of officers have done their best, some of them even at the cost of their lives, and nothing can overshadow what they did,” the analyst said.

Abrahamyan called on the state and the law enforcement agencies to appropriately deal with the issue.

“Without officers there will be no army either in Artsakh or in Armenia. Officers are the backbone of the armed forces. Whoever does not comply with the rank, expel them from the military and, if necessary, initiate criminal proceedings, but do not harm or insult the entire officer institute!

“We should realize that no matter what army we create or what reforms we make, it is based on honest and competent officers dedicated to their country,” he added.

Arsen Ghazaryan, the uncle of an Armenian soldier who went missing during the recent Artsakh war, is returning to Yerevan from Stepanakert after search efforts have yielded no results.

“During this period, we realized that this process is proceeding very slowly and is being protracted. They are playing games again. Our patience is overflowing. We have decided that we have nothing else to do in Stepanakert and in the morning we are heading to Yerevan,” he said in a Facebook live late on Tuesday.

The uncle said all parents of missing soldiers who are taking part in the search operations in Artsakh will come to Yerevan, calling on all relatives of missing or killed soldiers to join them in raising their voice against the authorities’ mishandling of the issue.

“This has to stop. They [Azerbaijanis] announced that they would return 21 prisoners of war to Armenia, but only 5 prisoners have repatriated. If it continues like this, this process will take several years,” Ghazaryan said, referring to the return of five Armenian POWs from Azerbaijani captivity late on Tuesday.

“Listen, gentlemen, we cannot wait for years until you get back 5 prisoners each time. So if you do not have a clear idea of what it means to be in captivity, place your children next to ours, sit down and wait for their return with us. How long are you going to stall for time? What do you want?” the angry man said, again urging all relatives of missing servicemen to join their efforts.

Also, he accused the authorities of starting the search operations for war casualties in the Azerbaijani-held territories of Artsakh very late.

“Some 7,000 employees work at the institutions of Armenia’s National Academy of Sciences. How is the issue concerning the status of these institutions going to be resolved now? How are they going to be funded? Not to mention that the average salary in these institutions is low, standing at around 100,000 drams,” MP Mikayel Melkumyan from the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party said at the parliamentary debates on the package of bills on higher education and science on Wednesday.

In addition, the deputy highlighted the need to preserve the academic environment in universities.

“We are losing the academic environment. Which circle will become academic? You are talking about the administrative circle, but what is it? Thus, we will deprive the head of a university chair of the opportunity to exercise full control,” Melkumyan said, addressing Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Vahram Dumanyan.

In response, the minister said he totally shares the concerns over the academic environment in universities.

“As for the National Academy of Sciences, the institutions are becoming more independent in this case. There are no problems with scientific institutions, which is very good. Funding will be provided directly to the institutions. As for the leadership, it essentially remains, it simply does not interfere in administrative and financial matters. The bill allows an academic institution to set up networks. These networks can form a coordination council, which can involve persons holding leadership positions,” the minister said.

Mikayel Melkumyan, in turn, called for an increase in funding for science in the state budget for 2022 to address the challenges facing the country. The education minister also agreed with the deputy.

“Now funding makes up one percent of the expenditures. We should expect up to four percent with the available funds, but it is unrealistic for now,” Dumanyan said.

"We often declare that the state should take responsibility for education, yet over the past 30 years the state has not been held responsible for the failures, including in the education sector," lawmaker Sofya Sahakyan said on Wednesday during the parliamentary debates on the package of bills on higher education and science .

In her words, the primary task remains to make the state responsible for the education.

"For any failure in the sector, the state should take the responsibility, likewise it should be commended for any success. The increase in science funding should be the main policy of the state. 4% of the budget allocation should be directed to science. It this is not recorded  and clarified, only in words we can blame the state for a failure," said the parliamentarian.

Hovsepyan noted that in the post-war reality, the increase in funding to science will be difficult.  However, the law should envisage the amount and fix it to work at some point.  

"By the decision of the Armenian government a temporary embargo on imports of any consumption goods of Turkish origin  was put, effective December 31, 2020,"  opposition lawmaker Ani Samsonyan said during the parliamentary Q/A session on Wednesday. Samsonyan asked what are the plans of the government to provide businessmen a worthy substitute for the Turkish market.  

"We are working online with economic entities who faced problems and still have difficulties in getting the ordered goods. All issues are being solved in a working regime," Minister of Economy Vahan Qerobyan said in response. 

As to the substitution of the markets, Qerobyan noted that the government priority is to replaced the imported goods with those of local production. "We try to support those entities who have difficulties. Apart from that, we are paying attention to Chinese, EAEU and Iranian markets," stressed the minister. 

He added that some of the economic entities have even enhanced their markets after the decision of the ban and are satisfied with the government move. "We must make the most out of that decision," added Qerobyan.  

To note, the government earlier said that the decision on ban was prompted by serious security concerns associated with product safety, taking into account the open and evident promotion and support by Turkey of Azeri aggression against Artsakh.