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ARMY NOT TO INTERFERE IN INTERNAL POLITICAL PROBLEMS
Gevorg Haroutyunyan
Hayots Ashkhar
Saturday 23 February 2008
Interview with Colonel-General SEYRAN OHANYAN, First Deputy Defense
Minister and Head of the General Headquarters of the RA Armed Forces
"Mr. Colonel-General, L. Ter-Petrosyan is spreading rumors that their
team receives support by Deputy Defense Ministers Manvel Grigoryan
and Gourgen Melkonyan. Do such rumors correspond to the reality?"
"This false allegation was imparted to the participants of the protest
rally two days ago, in the form of a complaint. It was a surprise
to us, and we were really astonished because we didn't imagine that
it was possible to convey this kind of distorted truth to the people
who believe and trust you.
We categorically refute all kinds of provocations as though one of
the Generals or Deputy Ministers of the Armed Forces of Armenia has,
in some way, expressed support to L. Ter-Petrosyan. Neither Deputy
Minister Manvel Grigoryan, Head of the Administration of "Yerkrapah"
Volunteers' Union, nor Lieutenant-General Gourgen (Gagik) Melkonyan
and nor even me have ever made any statement of the kind either in
written or oral form.
Rumors are also being spread around "Yerkrapah" Volunteers' Union. As
a member of the Administration of the Union, yesterday I visited there
to know in person what moods really prevail among the "Yerkrapah"
members. "Yerkrapah" (Defender of Land) Volunteers' Union is not a
political organization. Its members are also citizens of Armenia and
have a full right to freely express their will.
However, I assure you that as individuals having a sense of
responsibility for the country's security, the overwhelming majority of
"Yerkrapah" members support Serge Sargsyan.
At the same time, it is also necessary to take into consideration
the fact that many of the "Yerkrapah" members are representatives of
other parties and have, naturally, voted in favor of their candidate.
The election of President is an extremely important and decisive
political event. The Army is also involved in this process by way
of participating in the voting. Each soldier is also a citizen of
Armenia and has his political attitudes and viewpoints. Anyway, there
has been no necessity to discuss the participation of the leaders of
the Army and the Armed Forces in post-electoral processes.
The Army stands firmly in its positions; it realizes its tasks
perfectly well and, under the leadership of the Commander-in Chief,
it carries out all the functions of the guarantor of defense and
security. Under the leadership of the Minister of Defense, all the
Deputy Ministers and Army Commanders perform their tasks in accordance
with the instructions of the Commander-in Chief, and refrain from
political participation in post-electoral processes.
"Mr. Colonel-General, as one of the figures responsible for Armenia's
defense and security, don't you consider the internal political
tension of the post-electoral period dangerous for the state?"
"That Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan has received more than half of the
votes and been elected as the country's President is a fact. There is,
of course, reliable information on electoral wrongdoings as well.
However, their general quantity is not enough to influence the
outcome of the elections or create sufficient grounds for questioning
them. Moreover.
Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan, the winning candidate, has confirmed
his decisiveness to find out all the electoral wrongdoings and punish
all those who are culpable, in a manner prescribed by law.
The candidate who has received 21 percent of votes is trying to
speculate this factor and gather all his proponents in the square. And
what will happen if the winning candidate calls on all his favorers
(whose number is three times more) to protect their votes. This will
split our people into two conflicting parties.
Whereas the winning candidate was calling for consolidation during the
whole campaign. After all, why don't they consider the assessments of
the international observation mission? They are the highest assessments
made on any election ever held in our country.
The post-electoral protest rallies, which have been taking place for
already three days, have not yet been prevented or restricted by the
law enforcement agencies. However, it is obvious that they contain
a real resource for a provocation and create a material danger to
the country's security. Besides, gathering in "Azatoutyun" Square,
they simply voice threats in the address of the leaders of the state,
the people responsible for this or that wing of the authority and
the Heads of separate subdivisions.
The speeches of these pro-Opposition activists are constructed
on the bases of obvious lie, rude and vulgar expressions and
blackmail. Clearly, such atmosphere is fraught with clashes which, once
unleashed, will destabilize the internal political situation. This will
also result in an undesirable tension on the borders of our country,
influence on the mental state of an Armenian soldier protecting
the Armenian borders. Particularly, unpredictable complications may
arise in the frontier zones of Artsakh, where we are solving a lot
of problems, as it is."
"Mr. Ohanyan, is it possible for the ex-President not to realize the
danger of such threats?"
"I believe any individual striving for power and aspiring to obtain
the people's trust, any presidential candidate, must first of all be
polite and never pick on his rivals. Such conduct may always pose a
threat to our country's security and harm its international reputation.
Fortunately, we haven't so far recorded any extraordinary incident
in any frontier zone. At the same time, we have reliable information
that our neighbors have given their soldiers and border guards an
instruction to be much more alert.
The Army does not, of course, interfere in internal political
problems; however, it directly incurs all the consequences of the
ill manifestations arising inside the country. I assure you that the
Army will never have to use force against its own people, because the
internal affairs and security agencies have quite enough potential
and will carry out all the functions vested in them. These forces
are enough for neutralizing the possible provocations and observing
law and order in the country.
I am sure that the country's President must never divide the population
into his own people and rivals. The leader of the state must be the
President of each citizen. I also consider that it is very important
for the President to realize the whole responsibility of being the
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces."
Gevorg Haroutyunyan
Hayots Ashkhar
Saturday 23 February 2008
Interview with Colonel-General SEYRAN OHANYAN, First Deputy Defense
Minister and Head of the General Headquarters of the RA Armed Forces
"Mr. Colonel-General, L. Ter-Petrosyan is spreading rumors that their
team receives support by Deputy Defense Ministers Manvel Grigoryan
and Gourgen Melkonyan. Do such rumors correspond to the reality?"
"This false allegation was imparted to the participants of the protest
rally two days ago, in the form of a complaint. It was a surprise
to us, and we were really astonished because we didn't imagine that
it was possible to convey this kind of distorted truth to the people
who believe and trust you.
We categorically refute all kinds of provocations as though one of
the Generals or Deputy Ministers of the Armed Forces of Armenia has,
in some way, expressed support to L. Ter-Petrosyan. Neither Deputy
Minister Manvel Grigoryan, Head of the Administration of "Yerkrapah"
Volunteers' Union, nor Lieutenant-General Gourgen (Gagik) Melkonyan
and nor even me have ever made any statement of the kind either in
written or oral form.
Rumors are also being spread around "Yerkrapah" Volunteers' Union. As
a member of the Administration of the Union, yesterday I visited there
to know in person what moods really prevail among the "Yerkrapah"
members. "Yerkrapah" (Defender of Land) Volunteers' Union is not a
political organization. Its members are also citizens of Armenia and
have a full right to freely express their will.
However, I assure you that as individuals having a sense of
responsibility for the country's security, the overwhelming majority of
"Yerkrapah" members support Serge Sargsyan.
At the same time, it is also necessary to take into consideration
the fact that many of the "Yerkrapah" members are representatives of
other parties and have, naturally, voted in favor of their candidate.
The election of President is an extremely important and decisive
political event. The Army is also involved in this process by way
of participating in the voting. Each soldier is also a citizen of
Armenia and has his political attitudes and viewpoints. Anyway, there
has been no necessity to discuss the participation of the leaders of
the Army and the Armed Forces in post-electoral processes.
The Army stands firmly in its positions; it realizes its tasks
perfectly well and, under the leadership of the Commander-in Chief,
it carries out all the functions of the guarantor of defense and
security. Under the leadership of the Minister of Defense, all the
Deputy Ministers and Army Commanders perform their tasks in accordance
with the instructions of the Commander-in Chief, and refrain from
political participation in post-electoral processes.
"Mr. Colonel-General, as one of the figures responsible for Armenia's
defense and security, don't you consider the internal political
tension of the post-electoral period dangerous for the state?"
"That Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan has received more than half of the
votes and been elected as the country's President is a fact. There is,
of course, reliable information on electoral wrongdoings as well.
However, their general quantity is not enough to influence the
outcome of the elections or create sufficient grounds for questioning
them. Moreover.
Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan, the winning candidate, has confirmed
his decisiveness to find out all the electoral wrongdoings and punish
all those who are culpable, in a manner prescribed by law.
The candidate who has received 21 percent of votes is trying to
speculate this factor and gather all his proponents in the square. And
what will happen if the winning candidate calls on all his favorers
(whose number is three times more) to protect their votes. This will
split our people into two conflicting parties.
Whereas the winning candidate was calling for consolidation during the
whole campaign. After all, why don't they consider the assessments of
the international observation mission? They are the highest assessments
made on any election ever held in our country.
The post-electoral protest rallies, which have been taking place for
already three days, have not yet been prevented or restricted by the
law enforcement agencies. However, it is obvious that they contain
a real resource for a provocation and create a material danger to
the country's security. Besides, gathering in "Azatoutyun" Square,
they simply voice threats in the address of the leaders of the state,
the people responsible for this or that wing of the authority and
the Heads of separate subdivisions.
The speeches of these pro-Opposition activists are constructed
on the bases of obvious lie, rude and vulgar expressions and
blackmail. Clearly, such atmosphere is fraught with clashes which, once
unleashed, will destabilize the internal political situation. This will
also result in an undesirable tension on the borders of our country,
influence on the mental state of an Armenian soldier protecting
the Armenian borders. Particularly, unpredictable complications may
arise in the frontier zones of Artsakh, where we are solving a lot
of problems, as it is."
"Mr. Ohanyan, is it possible for the ex-President not to realize the
danger of such threats?"
"I believe any individual striving for power and aspiring to obtain
the people's trust, any presidential candidate, must first of all be
polite and never pick on his rivals. Such conduct may always pose a
threat to our country's security and harm its international reputation.
Fortunately, we haven't so far recorded any extraordinary incident
in any frontier zone. At the same time, we have reliable information
that our neighbors have given their soldiers and border guards an
instruction to be much more alert.
The Army does not, of course, interfere in internal political
problems; however, it directly incurs all the consequences of the
ill manifestations arising inside the country. I assure you that the
Army will never have to use force against its own people, because the
internal affairs and security agencies have quite enough potential
and will carry out all the functions vested in them. These forces
are enough for neutralizing the possible provocations and observing
law and order in the country.
I am sure that the country's President must never divide the population
into his own people and rivals. The leader of the state must be the
President of each citizen. I also consider that it is very important
for the President to realize the whole responsibility of being the
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces."