MIKAEL HARUTYUNIAN: ARMY IS NOT INVOLVED IN POLITICS

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 23, NOYAN TAPAN. No one will succeed in involving the
army in political processes, the Armenian defence minister Mikael
Harutyunian stated when responding to questions of reporters in
Yerevan’s Victory Park.

As for the rumors that the deputy defence ministers Lieutenant General
M. Grigorian and Lieutenant General G. Melkonian support the first
Armenian president Levon Ter-Petrosian, M. Harutyunian said: "These
rumors are not true, and all the deputy defence ministers are engaged
in performance of their official duties. I urge everybody not to
believe such provocative statements. The army is not involved in
politics and performs its tasks. We have the supreme commander-in-chief
and the defence minister whose orders are to be obeyed by everybody
from soldiers to commanders and generals, including the deputy
ministers".

According to the RA Defence Ministry Information and Propaganda
Department, the minister also said that those making such statements
must be held accountable by law as nobody has the right to ignore the
Constitution and laws. "Such provocative statements have already been
refuted by the commanders of the armed forces: by the defence minister,
his deputies and the head of the general staff," M. Harutyunian stated.