Serzh Sargsyan: Minister of Defense will deal very little with daily  activities of armed forces

ArmInfo.The President of Armenia, Commander-in-Chief Serzh Sargsyan today visited the Ministry of Defense and introduced to the highest officer corps the newly appointed Minister of Defense Vigen Sarkissian and the newly  appointed Chief of Staff of the RA Armed Forces Movses Hakopian. 

The press office of the Armenian President reports that Serzh  Sargsyan spoke also about the circumstances taken into consideration  before making this decision. In that context, Serzh Sargsyan spoke in  detail about the role ascribed by the new Constitution to the  Minister of Defense, to the Ministry of Defense and the leadership of  the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the state governance of Armenia.

"The Constitution stipulates clearly that the number one military  serviceman or senior serviceman should be the Chief of Staff. With  time the military and political diplomacy will be acquiring greater  importance, with time a comprehensive supplies for the Armed Forces  will become more important, also the procurement as within the  country as well as abroad. We have to deal directly with the military  and patriotic education. We have to invigorate works aimed at the  improvement of the social conditions of the military personnel also  keeping in mind that we always are responsible for the people who  ever served in our armed forces. Many of them are not with us today  or have become handicapped persons. I've just mentioned a few of the  existing issues but the Minister of Defense will allocate the lion's  share of his time to the resolution of these and similar problems.  The Minister of Defense will deal very little with the daily  activities of the armed forces.

I am confident that Vigen Sarkissian is well aware of the volume of  his responsibility, and I have no doubt that he will spare no effort  and justify trust and will fulfill that responsibility with honor. I  would certainly like to thank Seiran Ohanian for his long and  diligent work as Minister of Defense," the press office quotes  President Sargsyan as saying. The President assured that his  participation and interest towards the Ministry of Defense and Armed  Forces in general will not subside. The President of Armenia  underscored that along with the rising capabilities of our country,  capabilities of the Ministry of Defense will rise too. The President  expressed confidence that in the nearest future Seiran Ohanian will  again serve the country and will bring his important and useful  contribution to the strengthening of the defensibility of our  country.  According to the President, defensibility doesn't lie with  the Ministry of Defense alone. Serzh Sargsyan expressed confidence  that the newly appointed Chief of Staff Movses Hakopian also will  carry out his duties with the great sense of responsibility and  wished him success.

The former Minister of Defense Seiran Ohanian congratulated Vigen  Sarkissian and the Chief of Staff Movses Hakopian, as well as the  Secretary of the National Security Council Yuri Khatchaturov on their  appointments, wished success and expressed hope that each of them  will fully utilize their potential for the continuous empowerment of  the Armenian Armed Forces. Seiran Ohanian spoke about the works  carried out in the Ministry during his tenure, including reforms as  well as about forthcoming programs and priorities. The former  Minister of Defense also thanked the participants of the meeting and  the entire staff of the Ministry for the joint work.

After the introduction, according to the procedure established at the  MoD there took place the official ceremony of transition of the  position. The former Minister of Defense and former Chief of Staff  handed to the new Minister and the new Chief of Staff emblems and  insignia. The new Minister of Defense Vigen Sarkissian thanked the  President for trust and underscored that for him, as a member of the  President's political team, it is a great honor and responsibility to  assume the position of the Minister of Defense. He assured that he  would do his best to justify that trust.

The new Chief of Staff Movses Hakopian also expressed gratitude for  the great trust and underlined that together with the entire staff of  he would do his best to bring his input to the empowerment of the  Armenian Armed Forces and raising the level of defensibility of our  country.