Andranik Kocharyan’s son was invited to a training camp, it turned out that he is not subject

In January 2026, the Government of the Republic of Armenia decided the schedule of the training sessions of the reservists of the first and second ranks of the first group of reservists, non-commissioned officers and officers:

1. From February 3 to April 10, 2026 inclusive,

2. From March 31 to June 19, 2026 inclusive,

3. From April 15 to July 15, 2026 inclusive,

4. 2026 year June 9-from until August 14-the inclusive,

5. From August 4 to October 9, 2026 inclusive,

6. From September 15 to December 15, 2026 inclusive,

7. From September 29 to November 20, 2026 inclusive.

In other words, immediately after the day of the National Assembly elections, the next round of training sessions started. And in those days, there were reports that notices were being actively sent to opposition circles, including journalists, who came from Russia for the election. RA Defense Minister Suren Papikyan had confirmed noting this.

«How can I rule it out? A citizen of the Republic of Armenia coming from Russia is a soldier, doesn’t he have any duties towards his homeland? Naturally, I cannot rule it out. Not only from Russia, France, the United States of America, etc., etc.

In turn, the head of the General Staff of the RA Armed Forces, Edward Asryan, told the journalists had said  it is true that all those registered in the reserve force must go to the training sessions in order, not agreeing, of course, that there is a selective approach towards those with oppositional views.

Against the background of these statements, on June 11, 168.am sent a written request to the RA Defense Minister Suren Papikyan or the Ministry with the following questions:

■ Has Vazgen Kocharyan, the youngest son of Andranik Kocharyan, the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Defense and Security Committee, received a notice to participate in a training camp during these years after completing his mandatory military service, and if not, why, on what grounds? In general, can you name any serving son of an official who participated in the training sessions?

What military specialization does Ashot Pashinyan have?

■ How many notices to participate in the 25-day training camp from June 9 to August 14 were sent, were they more than those sent in the previous round?

■ In the context of 25-day training camps, to what extent is the allocation of combat duty according to military specialization?

Two years ago, RA Defense Minister Suren Papikyan announced in the National Assembly.

“Conscripting continues to be one of the challenges facing our country, we must speak loudly about this։ There is a phenomenon when a citizen of the Republic of Armenia renounces the citizenship of the Republic of Armenia to his child in order not to serve. In this regard, we should start lustration in our environment, I have also appealed to the Prime Minister to start a similar process in the state administration system. In my opinion, the state official should not allow himself that not only his child, but also the children of his close circle and relatives renounce their RA citizenship. That phenomenon exists, we can record painful indicators. We have to face ourselves on a moral basis and finally face the bad trend for me.”

To what extent did Nikol Pashinyan, taking this into account, start such a process in the state administration system, because after that fresh information about the release of the sons of government representatives from the army was circulated, and to what extent was this process carried out in the Ministry of Defense?

■ Some time ago, there were reports in the press about the release of Zhirayr Amirkhanyan, who was the assistant to the head of the State Security Service, is it related to the lustration process mentioned above?

In response to our questions, in its response letter sent on July 2, the defense department headed by Suren Papikyan first stated regarding the son of Andranik Kocharyan.

“In response to your request of 11.06.2026 addressed to the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, we inform you that Vazgen Andranik Kocharyan was invited to the military commissariat to participate in training sessions. and in accordance with Article 17 of the RA Law “On Military Service and the Status of Servicemen” was referred to the primary health care center, 2018 of the RA Government. to pass the examination defined by point 2.1 of Annex 2 of the decision N 405-N of April 12.

Based on the results of research conducted by the organization providing primary health care services in the prescribed manner, the Medical Commission of the Yerevan No. 2 Military Commissariat of the Republic of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, in accordance with the requirement of the 5th column of the Resolution N 404-N of the RA Government of April 12, 2018, was recognized as “Not subject to being called up for training.”

As for the question of the participation of the sons of officials in the training sessions, such statistics are not maintained.”

It should be noted that Andranik Kocharyan’s youngest son first served In the “Haykazov” military unit of the Artsakh Armed Forces, then he continued his service in Vanadzor, military specialization – artillery. Let’s not forget that Kocharyan’s eldest son did not serve in the army either.

As for Nikol Pashinyan’s son, Ashot Pashinyan, Suren Papikyan, in response to another of our written inquiries in April of this year reported that he was not sent a training camp participation notification.

“2023-2026 During this period, only 4.7 percent of those registered in the reserve force with Ashot Pashinyan’s military accounting major participated in the training sessions, and Ashot Pashinyan has not yet participated.” explained the Ministry of Defense.

The Ministry of Defense keeps Ashot Pashinyan’s military specialization a secret, which was also done in the case of our last survey: «there are some professions in military accounting that are not subject to publication.”

As for the 3rd question, the defense department said that it does not keep statistics of split notices either. In other words, they don’t calculate how many people were called to the training camp, how many were taken as a result, isn’t it interesting?

In the context of the 25-day training camps, to what extent the deployment of combat duty is carried out according to military specialization, the structure headed by Suren Papikyan informed that “the training camps of point 5 of the appendix approved by the decision of the Armenian government of October 18, 2018 N 1174-N are announced by the decision of the Republic of Armenia, based on the list, dates and events approved by the government of the Republic of Armenia on the basis of each year’s military mobilization preparation plans according to the number and professions involved”.

Suren Papikyan’s promised lustration to the process answering the related question, the Ministry of Defense assured that the process announced by the minister is continuing, without saying to what extent Nikol Pashinyan took note of it and started it in the state administration system.

As for the information about the dismissal of the former assistant of the head of the General Staff, Zhirayr Amirkhanyan, the Ministry of Defense stated that he continues to work in the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, but in what position, they did not elaborate, there are reports that he is currently an advisor to Suren Papikyan. And to Colonel Amirkhanyan on a specific occasion we have touched on, he held a rather important position under the former.

—