ArmInfo. Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan signed a decree releasing lieutenant-general Karen Abrahamyan from the position of the Artsakh Republic defense minister, commander of the Defense Army.
As the NKR Head's press service told ArmInfo, according to another presidential decree major- general Jalal Haroutyunyan was appointed Artsakh Republic defense minister, commander of the Defense Army, being released from the position of first deputy commander - chief of staff of the Artsakh Republic Defense Army.
It should be noted that Abrahamyan took the post of commander of the Defense Army on December 14, 2018.
To recall, since the beginning of the year, under unclear circumstances, 13 Armenian servicemen have died in different military units of two Armenian armed forces. The cases of deaths in the army caused a wide stir among the public and they demand the resignation of Minister of Defense David Tonoyan and Chief of the General Staff, Artak Davtyan. The current situation was discussed at a meeting with the heads of defense departments with the Prime Minister of Armenia.
"A number of important decisions were made, including personnel decisions. Against this background, I consider it necessary to emphasize that in 2019 we had a historical minimum of deaths in the army. And our task is to maintain this momentum. However, for this purpose I consider it important to exclude the formation of nervous environment around the army. There is no division between army and society. We are one, one family, one organism. And we will win, "said RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on his Facebook page, presenting the details of the February 18 meeting. After that, by the decree of the President, Chief of the military police Arthur Baghdasaryan and Head of the Department of Moral/Psychological Support of the Armenian Armed Force Aleksan Aleksanyan left their posts.
To note, before being appointed Commander of the Artsakh Defense Army, Jalal Harutyunyan held the post of First Deputy Commander of the Defense Army of Artsakh - Chief of Staff (since December 2018). On July 8, 2019, by the decree of the President of Artsakh, he was conferred the military rank of major-general. From June 2016 to 2018, he headed one of the military units of the Artsakh Defense Army, located in the southern direction of the Contact Line of the troops. Jalal Harutyunyan graduated with honors from the St. Petersburg Military Academy, where he entered in 1999.
In December 2015, the Azerbaijani media reported the removal of Colonel Jalal Harutyunyan, but hours later he denied the report, making a statement to the press. He is also member of the Karabakh liberation war.