Pashinyan orders military police reshuffle following latest non-combat death in army

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said that personnel changes will be made in the Military Police and in the Defense Ministry’s morale department following the latest death recorded in the army.

Pashinyan said at a press briefing on Thursday that he had discussed the situation with Defense Minister Suren Papikyan earlier in the day and that personnel changes would soon be made in the bodies directly responsible.

“I have already made a decision according to which there will be changes in the Military Police, as well as personnel changes in the Moral and Psychological Support Department. We will conduct a detailed analysis of why the efforts we have made in this area are not producing the desired results and will draw conclusions. Yes, there must be individual accountability. My assessment is not that, in this situation, the Chief of the General Staff and the Minister of Defense are failing to make sufficient efforts to resolve this issue,” the Armenian prime minister explained.

The Armenian Ministry of Defense had reported that on August 13, the body of Grigor Zakaryan, a serviceman of the Armenian Armed Forces, was found with a gunshot wound.

An investigation is underway to fully establish the circumstances of the latest non-combat death in the military.