Narek Karapetyan: The RA Minister of Defense is incapable of fulfilling his duties and must be replaced

ArmInfo. RA Defense Minister Suren Papikyan is incapable of fulfilling his duties and must be replaced. Narek Karapetyan, leader of the Strong Armenia opposition faction, stated this at a plenary session of the RA National Assembly on October 6.

According to him, an enemy soldier crossed the state border unhindered, advanced 15 kilometers into the country, entered an Armenian village, entered a man's home, and opened fire on a mother in the presence of her children. The mother miraculously saved her children. Meanwhile, as the parliamentarian noted, the authorities claim that Azerbaijan informed the Armenian side of the disappearance of its serviceman. "Very good, but what have you been doing for five days? What has your defense minister been doing for five days?" " the opposition leader asked, addressing the ruling majority.

As it turns out, Narek Karapetyan continued, the Minister of Defense was holding elections at the time, participating in the electoral processes for local government bodies. "Your system of governance is such that the Minister of Defense, whose position is political, is busy with election processes instead of dealing with defense issues. Replace this man; he is not capable of leading the Ministry of Defense. There are already multiple cases of murders and suicides being recorded in the army. This man is incapable; he is not up to the task, and he, like you all, knows and understands this very well. The Minister of Defense should be a professional military man; this is one of Armenia's main problems. In fact, he himself is not fit for the position because he is incapable," Narek Karapetyan noted.

He added that it is not an Armenian woman who should defend the country's borders; this issue should be handled by... Armenian Army, National Security Service.

In early October 2026, a serviceman of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces was detained in Armenia. The detainee is Nasimi Musayev, a serviceman of the Azerbaijani Army. According to the Military Prosecutor's Office of Azerbaijan, he left his duty station without permission on September 26, 2026. On September 29, the State Security Service of Azerbaijan notified the National Security Service (NSS) of Armenia about the soldier's disappearance and possible border crossing. On October 2026, at approximately 2:15 PM in the village of Shaki (Syunik Region), a serviceman entered a residential building, opened fire, and wounded a 38-year-old local resident in the leg. The woman's life is not in danger, and her condition is stable. On the same day, Armenian security agencies detained Nasimi Musayev. An Armenian court sentenced him to two months of pretrial detention. The Investigative Committee of Armenia has opened a criminal case. He is accused of illegal border crossing, smuggling and illegal arms trafficking, violating the privacy of a home, and causing grievous bodily harm. Following the incident, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan dismissed Deputy Director of the National Security Service David Sanamyan.