YEREVAN, MAY 16, ARMENPRESS. A group of desk job officers of military commissariats were protesting against governmental optimization of the institutions outside the government headquarters today in Yerevan.

Alexander Ghazaryan, head of the admissions and applications department, received the demonstrators, heard their complaints and urged them to address the defense ministry.

At the meeting, Mr. Ghazaryan said that the issue is a minister-Prime Minister level matter for discussion.

“This issue isn’t being solved in this building. I recommend to form a working group and head to the defense ministry where the minister will receive you,” he said.

One of the desk officers of a military commissariat said he has been employed at the agency for 20 years, and now he is being fired due to job cuts as part of optimizations. “We have our contribution in the army-building, the army was just five years old when we began working”, the protester said.

The protesters, administrative officers of more than 10 military commissariats, have been demonstrating outside the governmental headquarters from early morning, demanding a meeting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Under a new law, the management of military commissariats has been shifted from the General Staff to the defense ministry. A planned optimization will reduce the number of military commissariats from 44 to 14, while only 2 from the current 20 employed officers will remain in each agency.

A military commissariat is а local military administrative agency that prepares and executes plans for military mobilization, maintains records on military manpower and economic resources available to the armed forces, provides pre-military training, drafts men for military service, organizes reserves for training, and performs other military functions at the local level. It is similar to a military recruitment office.

ENGLISH: Editor/Translator - Stepan Kocharyan