PM`s former adviser:  Minister of Defense and his deputies do not  have to be military

ArmInfo.The Armed Forces of Armenia is a large economy, which includes both civil servants and  the military servants. On August 11, Hrachya Sargsyan, newly appointed Deputy Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, ex-mayor of Yerevan and former adviser to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, stated to journalists.

Answering the question about what the army will be like if one of the  deputy ministers is a historian and the other two are financiers,  Sargsyan noted that the Ministry of Defense implements a general  policy, and the General Staff and its head are in charge of the armed  forces. "Thus, everyone contributes to the army", - said the Deputy  Minister of Defense. He added that the Yerevan Municipality is also a  large industry, and the experience accumulated there will allow it to  be effectively applied in the RA Ministry of Defense.  <Civilians in  the armed forces do their jobs, and the military do theirs. If we  follow the logic of the question, then one gets the impression that  there should be no civil servants in the Armed Forces. It is not  necessary that the Minister of Defense and his deputies be military  men>, Sargsyan noted, adding that he became Deputy Minister of  Defense at the suggestion of Suren Papikyan, head of the defense  department of the republic.

The Deputy Minister, referring to the fact that he took up his duties  only one week ago, refused to answer questions related to the process  of acquiring weapons, the situation on the front line. At the same  time, he noted that he would not like to publicly point out  weaknesses in the Armed Forces that the enemy could take advantage  of. "In order to achieve the set goals, it is necessary, first of  all, to increase the combat capability of the armed forces and the  efficiency of army management," Sargsyan said.

Speaking about the reasons for his resignation from the post of mayor  of Yerevan, he stressed that his candidacy was not included in the  list of the "Civil Agreement" party, so he resigned. "Nevertheless,  all those programs that were started by me have been successfully  completed," the deputy minister noted.  On August 3, by the decision  of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan,  Hrachya Sargsyan was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense of the  Republic of Armenia. On March 17, he resigned from the post of mayor  of Yerevan, after which he was appointed adviser to the head of  government.