ArmInfo.Former Chief of the Armenian General Staff Seyran Ohanyan, who held this post during the events of March 1, 2008, does not see the connection between the secret order N0038 signed by then RA Defense Minister Mikael Harutyunyan and the overthrow of the constitutional order, which the second President of RA Robert Kocharyan is accused of.
During an interview with the Armenian public television, he stated that the main motivation of the order was the task of preventing the "Yerkrapah" militarized veteran organization from engaging in the political processes, against the backdrop of the support of some of the current protesters. The next goal of the order, according to Ohanyan, was the need to ensure that the security of government and military facilities was strengthened, since the intelligence services received information about the desire of some groups to seize weapons. Thus, according to Ohanyan, everything was done to prevent the intervention of the armed forces in political processes.
Ohanyan said that the head of the RA Defense Ministry did not exceed his official authority, signing the unfortunate secret order N0038, as he had the right to transfer military units to the barracks position, and the basis for drawing up the order was the Constitution of Armenia, according to which the protection of important state institutions and facilities was imposed on the AF. <Our population had no idea what serious challenges it was from the point of view of security. Therefore, this order was given>, explained Ohanyan. Seyran Ohanyan also admitted that it was not unexpected for him to be involved in the investigation of the March events. "Anyone who carries out military-political activities has to do with politics," he concluded.