Instead of ensuring information and psychological security in army,  Armenian Defense Minister is busy with the election campaign -  opposition MP

ArmInfo. Instead of properly ensuring information and psychological security in the army, Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikyan and the ministry he leads are caught  in the middle of the ruling Civil Contract party's pre-election  turmoil. This was stated by Gegham Manukyan, a member of the Armenian  parliament from the opposition Armenia faction, in a video message on  his Facebook page.

He stated that the Armenian army is currently facing unprecedented  information threats, which remain ignored by the armed forces'  leadership. "While the Defense Minister is busy campaigning, the  threats are mounting: the country's information and psychological  security is under attack, every day is a worrying time for families  with military personnel, and the chaos in Armenia's security sector  seems endless," the MP emphasized.

Manukyan recalled that the ruling Civil Contract party had previously  published its election platform, which, among other things, addressed  the country's security and the Armenian Armed Forces. However, as the  MP noted, this topic is addressed more from a populist perspective  than from a substantive one. In this regard, the MP called for  attention to be paid to a new, dangerous phenomenon in the Armenian  Armed Forces. "Recently, we've been seeing articles with headlines  about accidents in some unit, stabbings during a 25-day training  exercise between conscripts, explosions in a military unit, injuries  to contract soldiers, accidents involving military vehicles, and so  on. Such news appears and spreads like lightning throughout the  Armenian media landscape. Meanwhile, the Armenian Ministry of Defense  remains silent, as the Ministry, headed by Papikyan, is currently  focused solely on the election campaign and attacks on the Armenian  Apostolic Church, instead of discussing the country's security  issues. These are all issues that the Armenian Ministry of Defense is  responsible for addressing," the opposition figure noted.

Manukyan noted that previously, no media outlet would publish news  about military accidents until the first, last, and patronymic names  of the wounded, deceased, or killed service member were known.   Because, as the MP explained, everyone understood the danger of such  actions at the time, including thanks to joint work with the Armenian  Ministry of Defense. The media understood that news of each such  incident, without additional information about who it happened to,  would cause anxiety for all parents whose children were serving.

"However, chaos reigns in the Armenian army now; there are no names  or surnames. The Ministry spends hours not confirming the news or  commenting. Meanwhile, this is, in fact, a very important security  buffer, affecting both the reputation of the Armenian Armed Forces,  information security, and, ultimately, public peace. Families closely  connected to the army through their children serving there find  themselves in a vulnerable position amidst information chaos,"  Manukyan concluded.

As a reminder, on April 4, the ruling Civil Contract party presented  its election platform, the ideological foundation of which is the  idea of "Real Armenia" and the doctrine of the country's economic and  institutional transformation. One of the provisions of this platform  addresses the ruling party's vision for ensuring the country's  security. Thus, according to the "Civil Contract" program, the army  is a reserve instrument for ensuring external security in case  diplomatic measures fail.