Despite the notifications of the Regnum Agency, which hosted yesterday the Minister of Defense of RA Serj Sargsyan, regarding the fact that the press conference was going to be about the Army and society, the political questions were inevitable. Those were just formulated in a slightly different way, including the word “army”.
The Defense Minister is sure that the lack of trust to the army, which existed in the beginning of 200, doesn’t exist any more because according to him they were able to make the army open to the society and enable the parents of the soldiers personally enter the military bases and witness the conditions their children live in. “There was no trust and we decided to open the doors for everyone. Before 2000 many parents were complaining and protesting. Starting from 2001 all the organizations, which were organizing such actions, became our supporters. They started to go to military bases, meet with soldiers and talk to them. Now hundreds of parents may go to military bases over the weekends and meet their children,” mentioned Sargsyan and added, “of course, there are closed, secret conversations within the army but the army is not closed to any one. Today there are all the conditions created for the people to monitor the living conditions of soldiers. I think that at present the connections between the society and army are quite open and useful communication is created.”
The Gallup Institute conducted a public poll to find out the heroes of our time. People mentioned historical commanders or the participants of the Karabakh war, some of them no longer alive. Sargsyan, the head of the most effective army of the region over 9 years out of 15 years of its history, was not mentioned by anyone. On January 19 the news reporters asked the defense minister whether his name was not mentioned in the poll because the minister is involved in many other activities and his name is associated with the army less. Sargsyan answered that there is nothing strange about why people do not consider him as a hero. “Because I have never considered myself a hero and a great commander,” Sargsyan says. As for the idea that his name is not associated with the army, Sargsyan said it is not his problem. “I should note that all the past twenty years of my career are related to the army. Only five out of these twenty years are not related to the army directly. I have served in the Armenian army for 15 years in a non-secondary position. And if my name is not associated with the army, I have no problem,” Sargsyan says. According to him, it is necessary to ask for the opinion of officers to associate his name with the army. The reporters also inquired if in the pre-election year the strictures against the defense minister will not affect the reputation of the army. The news reporters reminded Sargsyan that Artashes Geghamyan accused several days ago the relatives of the defense minister of a plot to kill Gagik Tsarukyan. Sargsyan did not react to this particular question but gave a general answer that the criticism against him will not affect the army. “I think people have a positive opinion on the army and whatever myths are invented about the defense minister, they may have a good or bad opinion on the defense minister but they cannot have a negative opinion on the army,” Sargsyan says. He thinks if the army is open, if the parents can visit their son, call him whenever they wish, if fewer deaths are reported, there is no reason for a bad attitude towards the army. Perhaps due to this evaluation Sargsyan finds it difficult to say if he may resign on the eve of the election to prevent manipulations of the army. “I cannot forecast, I cannot forecast the developments. I can only say one thing that no pre-election process can have an impact on the army. These are temporary things, especially that everyone can imagine clearly what is true and what is false,” Sargsyan says. Sargsyan insisted he will not force tens of thousands of army conscripts to vote for his Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) in the upcoming parliamentary elections. “I rule that out,” Sargsyan said. “Nobody will be forced to vote. It is possible that some officers may try to do campaigning and direct soldier’s sympathy to one or another party.” Speaking at a news conference, Sargsyan argued that the army’s votes are nowhere near enough to win the elections due in May. He claimed that he has never issued election-related orders to his subordinates. “I have been defense minister for nine years, and if any commander says that I instructed him to vote for a particular party, then I am the most dishonest man in the world,” he said. But Sargsyan made it clear at the same time that he believes many Armenian army officers support him and will readily vote for the RPA. “There is nothing wrong with the army commanders sharing the defense minister’s views,” he said. “It would be much worse if the defense minister believed in one thing and the officers in another. The society must only be happy with the fact that the minister enjoys authority in the army,” he said.
Regarding the formation of environment of fear in the army, which also makes the soldier go to the precinct and make a choice ordered by the commander, Serj Sargsyan mentioned, “What do you mean environment of fear if the solder votes in a regular secret voting booth? If we regard this issue in this way then we might assume there is the same fear in the society overall. Of course there are going to be people, who are going to claim this both before and after elections. It’s going to be a secret voting and there s no polling-station, where 80-90% of voters are soldiers. When voting no one is going to know whether the soldier has made the order of the commander or not.” Sargsyan also excluded the possibility of military servants being in politics. “If we find out that any of the commanders wants to be involved in politics we will dismiss him immediately.”