ArmInfo. The case of General Manvel Grigoryan showed that the propaganda of the "Army-nation" concept, carried out by the previous authorities, "was not worth a penny". First Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan expressed opinion during the Fecebook press conference on the air of Azatutyun TV, commenting on the disclosures of the National Security Service of Armenia against MP of the Republican Party, Chairman of the Yerkrapah Volunteer Union, General Manvel Grigoryan.
According to Mirzoyan, for many years it was said that "the army is our holy of holies, and anyone who abuses in this sphere is a traitor." And then comes the moment of truth: their propaganda was not worth a penny."
He also recalled that earlier, when the opposition pointed to the problems in the army, the authorities called not to talk about it. "Some officials made such ugly patriotic statements that we said that these people can do everything, but not in the sphere of the army and defense, and we, who criticized and said that there are problems, seemed less patriotic. And when we were asking what means "Army-Nation", they said: do not talk about it, you are pouring water to the enemy's mill," the First Deputy Prime Minister said.
The concept of "Nation-Army" was put into circulation by former Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan. In the meantime, in January 2018, in an interview with ArmInfo, the director of the Armenian Center for Strategic and National Studies, Manvel Sargsyan, said that the "nation-army-church" adopted by the Armenian authorities is nothing more than a new embodiment of the practice of suppressing the will of citizens. "The Armenian, shameless by its nature, criminal-oligarchic regime is afraid only of the threat of its own physical elimination, but this does not prevent its participants from appealing to moral categories, appeals to conscience, moral teachings, morality, the desire to shame anyone who criticizes those in power, and the activities of Armenian Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan." he stressed. In this light, the analyst noted the calls of the criminal-oligarchic regime to the conscience of society, to humility with their own actions in the direction of new extortions from citizens for "assistance to servicemen." Sargsyan highlighted the desire of those who are calling, first of all, to shame the citizens who point to the facts of corruption and embezzlement in the army.